The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that Bangalore’s infrastructure crisis is the result only of a lack of political will, combined with public apathy. I moved to the city some 13 years ago- long before the IT industry struck roots here. In fact, I remember meeting the then Head Honcho of the Metro Rail corporation to discuss project structuring and so on- services offered by the Big 5 firm I worked for at the time. 13 years on, all we have to show is a series of dug-up roads across the city. If only the powers-that-be had moved decisively at the time, Bangaloreans could have been spared much of their daily agony. Even now, I am not convinced that projects like the elevated road on Hosur Road will do much to decongest traffic. It may have been faster and cheaper to develop other roads that connect say Sarjapur Road or Bannerghatta Road with Hosur Road. All it will take is one accident or vehicle break-down on the elevated carriage-way and all hell will break loose. The same thing is true of the “magic box” at the Cauvery theatre junction. Vehicles going towards Mekhri Circle have no choice but to make a left turn at Cauvery, then make a U turn before rejoining Bellary Road after making another left turn. Not only will this slow down traffic considerably, but this also creates a new choke-point at that place. Again, if a vehicle breaks down at the turn inside the maig box, think of the mess it will create. And right now, this is right on the main road to the new airport at Devanahalli!
As real estate prices in Bangalore sky-rocketed, supply became limited. Whether land was bought up by speculators, sharks or parties with genuine needs for a home/office etc., the fact of the matter is that each passing day makes it more difficult to acquire land for public purposes, such as roads and MRT programs. The longer we delay decisions around building expressways, peripheral ring roads and so on, the more it will cost us as citizens of Bangalore- not just in direct costs of fuel, time, wear and tear and stress/fatigue, but also in terms of productivity, health and overall environmental degradation. So many of Bangalore’s famous tree-lined boulevards have been denuded in the last few months. I understand that trees need to be cut to make way for roads. But can’t new trees be planted or existing trees be transplanted? It will of course cost more to transplant trees, but maybe that should go under the head of “intangibles”- after all, there is a certain joy and pride to having trees that are 50+ years old. Here, I am not talking about the Casuarina or Gulmohur trees; I am referring to Neem, Peepul and other such trees that are inherently strong in terms of resistance to rain & winds.
On a recent visit to Hyderabad, I was struck by how much that city has improved visibly over the last five years. Multiple flyovers, wide roads, swanky shopping arcades with bright neon signs…. the traffic snarls are still there in several places, but overall, Hyderabad arguably has better road infrastructure today than Bangalore. Of course, the new airport there will surely cause heartburn and chaos for a few months. After that, people will only remember the facilities offered by the new airport, and not worry so much about the 1.5 hours it takes to get there!
Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF), Bangalore Forward, Unlock Bangalore…. so many initiatives, but so little progress. I suppose we only have ourselves to blame.