Men At Work: Motorists Beware!

It is raining concrete on Bangalore. First it was those arterial roads which got the white topping, a pleasant sounding term to mask the agony motorists are subjected to. In many arterial roads, half the width was closed to traffic to carry out the digging and lay concrete.

For motorists it was like the proverbial camel passing through a needle's eye. All driving etiquettes took a back seat and frayed tempers, honking contests became the order of the day. Amid such constricted driving conditions commuting hours increased by leaps and bounds.

Now that the concrete works have either ended or nearing completion in many parts of the city, the attention of the civic authorities have turned towards smaller lanes. At many places the culverts and drains are being redone to ensure proper water flow.

Near my house the drain works happened ahead of state elections, but some drain stretches ran into dead ends as roads had to be cut to clear the debris and build a proper drain. The work was left pending and now it is being taken up.

There are hardly any warning signs to alert the motorists and is especially dangerous during nights when it is barely visible from a distance.

Many motorists have their rude awakening barely 4-5 metres shy of the dug up area. This is followed by some frantic stepping on brake pedal to screeching just-in-time halts.

Four-wheeler drivers, especially those driving burly SUVs, struggle to take a U-turn on the narrow sub-20 feet wide road with drain on one side. Their driving skills and the turning radius of their vehicles are put to ultimate test.

After a few days they put back the slabs on the road. But following the illustrious tradition of the Bangalore's civic authorities, they did not properly restore it by putting the necessary cement and asphalt. Hence motorists gingerly pass over the good old slabs, now shorn of asphalt cover, and it often emits a rumbling-cum-thud sound.

The situation is the same in many parts of the city. The other day I had to go to Banaswadi station and had to take a detour at two places. Mind you I was going there barely after two months.

As I passed through the Old Baiyappanahalli railway gate without having to wait for any train to pass by, I thanked my stars. But my joy was short lived as barely half a kilometre away I was greeted by a huge traffic pile up.

Upon enquiry I got to know that the culvert was being redone and only a narrow stretch was there to pass by. Looking at the long queue of vehicles on both the sides, I decided to take a detour.

I took a U-turn and returned to the railway gate, which again was fortunately open, and then got into the road running parallel to Kallpalli cemetery.

Unfortunately I was not well versed with the route as I had passed by that stretch only a couple of times by auto. During such circumstances the best way is to follow the herd instinct. Just go through lanes that has more volume of traffic. It worked for me that day and soon I reached the Dodda Banaswadi Main Road.

Barely had I thought that I can breathe easy, came the second shock. The road leading to Banaswadi railway station has been closed for repairs!

I had to then go hunting for a parallel lane and then figure out how that lane would reach the railway station. Again I decided to fall back on the tried and tested nostrum - follow the herd. And finally we made it to the station.

With the city's smaller lanes getting a makeover, surprises lurks in every corner.

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What Ails Suburban Stations

I happened to go to Banaswadi railway station to see off my family and got a taste of what actually ails the city's suburban stations, especially those on the way to Yeshwanthpur. 

Though these stations figure among the designated stops of various express trains, to reduce pressure on Bangalore Central and Yeshwantpur stations, hardly any thought or action has taken place to improve amenities. The length of the platform in many of these stations are still good enough only for local trains and hence when a 18-coach express train arrives, some of the rear coaches don't make it to the platform.

We started from home early, not because we had any illusions about Railway's punctuality, but to circumvent the greatest bugbear of Bangaloreans - traffic. Surprisingly it was not in its element, partly because it happened to be a Sunday, and we ended up reaching the station about 45 minutes ahead of scheduled time.

As it was drizzling we decided to spend some time in the car. Later about 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled time we made it to the station. The usually sleepy entrance was bursting at the seams. I rationalised that it might be due to the festival rush, as most schools are closed for nearly a fortnight.

Somehow we managed to negotiate our way amid the crowds and baggage into the platform. Only then it did dawn on me the real reason for this crowding. The platform roof barely covers a small area near the entrance of the station. The rest of them have been left open. Since it was drizzling, passengers had decided to remain huddled below the roof area.

A stray dog, probably a long time resident at the station, was bewildered by the crowd and had to put up with the agony of being stepped upon or shooed away by passengers. The dog too was also seeking its place under the roof to avoid getting drenched. 

I then realised that the second platform had no roof at all. Shortly afterwards a train arrived in that platform. It was coming from Tirupati and had lots of pilgrims with shaven heads. Don't know how passengers alighting from that train managed amid the drizzle. And those who stayed back for onward journey were subjected to long torturous wait. In fact it left only after the Kannur bound express left, after about 45 minutes.

The reason, of course, again lies with lack of planning. Though Yeshwanthpur was made an alternate terminus to Bangalore Central, no measures were taken to double the track. Nearly 20-30 trains originate from the terminus but they have to make do with single track. As a result, we have these eternal waits due to crossings. Quite often trains even start off from Yeshwantpur on a delayed note.

Finally our train arrived, of course some 45 minutes behind schedule, but mercifully the rains had stopped and the crowd had dispersed. 

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