Bangalore waiting for take-off on the fast highway

Bangalore waiting for take-off on the fast highway
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: From a scenic, almost picture-perfect pensioners’ paradise to a super fast, high-tech city, Bangalore has changed beyond recognition in the last 50 years. The City, which hardly had a few vehicles on the roads and a few thousand people on the streets, now supports millions of men and machines.

Monday morning blues take on a whole new meaning in Bangalore. Congested roads, endless traffic jams and road rage does not make the start of a new week pleasant. A philosopher may say, ‘This too shall pass’, once the ambitious metro rail project and the Bangalore International Airport are completed. Both multi-billion dollar projects are at a crucial stage of completion.

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), the company executing the metro rail project, has already begun utility shifting and other preliminary work in the first stage of the project. The 33-km rail corridor is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.

The project continues to face critical moments, with a section of people demanding change in the proposed rail alignment, as it would lead to the demolition of their houses and shops. In spite of all the road blocks, the project, which will carry an estimated 15 per cent of the city’s population, is underway.

In Devanahalli, the Bangalore International Airport is fast taking shape, with up to 30 per cent of the work completed. It will be the first private sector-owned and operated airport in the country and is expected to be completed by April 2008. The airport will serve about 10 million passengers every year.

The next ten or so years will be crucial for Bangalore. The influx of people, industries and aspirations will only escalate in the coming years.

With the airport and metro rail in the pipeline, the city is waiting to unfurl its fullest potential as the country’s newest and fastest growing metropolis.