There is hope for city but concepts must turn concrete
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: If things move in the right direction, Bangalore 2010 will be truly a city of the future where everyone wants to live. And life will be more comfortable, at least in terms of transport. But if infrastructure projects continue to become victims of political bickering, the Silicon City is sure to be more chaotic.

Metro Rail, the international airport at Devanhalli, four-laning of Bangalore-Mysore Road, Bangalore-Mysore Express Corridor, improvement in BMTC services, more flyovers and underpasses are expected to make travelling both within the city and from outside more comfortable.

But for political bickering and red-tapeism, work on these projects would have started by now. But since the present Government has committed itself to go ahead with the Rs. 5,000-crore Metro Rail project and the Rs. 1,200-crore airport project, work is expected to start soon.

For the city with 18 lakh vehicles and chaotic roads, Metro Rail brings a ray of hope. It is expected to bring down travelling time and vehicular pollution considerably.

Once it is ready, commuters can reach one end of the city from another in less then 30 minutes. It is expected to ferry around 8.2 lakh commuters back and forth each day, reducing the burden on surface transport. BMTC is also adding 1,000 more buses to its fleet to enable more people to access their services.

Apart from that, the Bangalore-Mysore Express Corridor project being implemented by the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) will make the journey between two busy cities more comfortable. More flyovers and grade separators are also expected to ease traffic congestion.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that despite all the projects, the city’s roads may continue to be chaotic unless authorities check explosion of vehicle population and widen roads.

On an average, 700 new vehicles hit the roads everyday and the number is expected to increase in coming years. Flyovers, grade separators and one-ways may not help unless some drastic steps are taken to check explosion of vehicle population.

That apart, political vision is also needed to get the projects going to improve infrastructure in the city. Otherwise, the situation will worsen.