The tarred road to success?

The tarred road to success?
Deccan Herald

The new government seems to mean business. Several roads have been tarred and Bannerghatta Road is no longer the marathon it was even a few weeks ago.

If you don't believe me, then you must undertake a journey on some of our major roads to know for yourself.

Langford Town for instance, the one way road from Nanjappa Circle to Hosur Road has been literally tarred overnight. One day it was all potholed and a marathon driver's delight and another it is as smooth as…for want of a better expression, navigating the mouse over a mouse pad.

While Kumaraaswamy is up and about and is getting his men to repair the roads in right earnest, perhaps he should take a peek at the 80 Feet Road in Koramangala, a major obstacle race for drivers and many of the inner roads in various residential layouts and suburbs.

He should also get his men to look at the one-way hell that Bangalore has become. It now takes doubly longer to reach anywhere. It is easier to walk to your destination. Perhaps that is the intention of the traffic police, to get us to use our vehicles less and walk to a healthier life.

Some one-way routes have almost no traffic signals while some others have bottlenecks every few yards. Especially so in the case of roads housing malls, whether, it is Central, Garuda or Forum, which have traffic inching ahead for miles together.

Another interesting development last week has been the traffic police's efforts to clear the roads outside homes of parked cars, by deflating their tyres. If you don't have parking space in your home, bad luck, you cannot park outside on the roads, seems to be the message. The police want residents to realise that roads are not private property.

But everyone around us believes that the roads are an extension of their property. Why else would they put up pandals on the roads leading to their homes to celebrate weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and festivals? If others living in the same street, have to take a detour to get to their homes, too bad.

Usually neighbours grit their teeth and bear with the inconvenience, either because they cannot complain against an influential neighbour, or because it is a religious festival and nobody wants any trouble.