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BMTC e-purse to be introduced next week

Yes, it is almost there. In about a week, BMTC will introduce e-purse which can be used to pay for your BMTC tickets instead of cash. The first phase of the roll out will be experimental and this scheme will soon be expanded after KEONICS finds BOOT partners to implement the system. Ella OK but I have some quirks about the way it is implemented.

Who is it - city government or us?

How interesting to see different media houses use varying headlines to describe one same PriceWaterhouseCooper (PWC) survey on Bangalore city and governance.

- "We're to blame for city's woes" says Times of India Bangalore

- "Bangaloreans rue city governance" goes NDTV

- "B'lore citizens seek better urban governance" went the source at PTI

Here are some interesting notings from this PWC survey:

Passing the Muck

Once every month this BWSSB truck comes in and cleans out the septic tanks in the area. All the dirt and the grime are cleaned out and put on the road in a heap. It is then the work of the BBMP cleaners to clear that mess. This has led to many showdowns between the two, the latest being this morning when the two almost came to blows.

Praja site for Hubli-Dharwad

We had recently posted about Hubli Dharwad Citizens taking the initiative to help their city.

We think providing a dedicated online presence to the citizens of Hubli-Dharwad will provide a easy, versatile and interactive front to these efforts.

Hoardings - can BBMP do it?

You must have missed this ad BBMP put in newspapers 2 weeks ago. It is an aggressive sounding notice talking about unauthorized hoardings and signboards:

"As per the rules ... exhibitors of illegal advertisements ... banners ... are punishable. Action will be taken against ... by lodging FIR at ... police stations"

Getting Serious About Traffic

Its time to stop pussy footing about traffic and get really serious about it. There are going to be no more fundamental advances in traffic engineering. All that remains to be done is implement what has already been discovered. All this knowledge is not even patented or proprietary - any body serious about doing it and with access to a xerox machine should be well equipped to tackle these problems.

Traffic As A Part Of City Planning

The Hindu carried an interesting story today.

Says K.C. Ramamurthy, Inspector-General of Police and Additional Police Commissioner, “Someone plans the road width, someone sanctions building plans. The traffic implications are dealt by us”.

There was an absolute necessity to involve traffic police at the planning stage itself. Ameen to that. Some more

... About 35 per cent of an entire road length in the city was occupied for parking. “With the number of vehicles growing exponentially, we still have not thought of adequate parking space,” he said. Mr. Ramamurthy said that a person must be able to provide proof that he could afford to and owned the space to park his vehicle. “Only then must he be allowed to own a vehicle,” he said. Government offices where the public did not visit often could be shifted away from the centre of the city, schools could be started early so that traffic burden was eased and building of new truck terminals could be considered as solutions, Mr. Ramamurthy added.

Bidadi Power

One of the most potent solutions to Bangalore's problems also poses great challenges - moving the center to respond, fighting global markets. Yet if KA can somehow pull this one off, Bangalore can begin to address some of its problems in true impactful ways.

Metro Rail too much to handle - Can we leapfrog...

Where as the need of a high capacity transit system for our cities is beyond any doubt,at a cost of Rs. 16000 crores for about 33 kms., as it stands on this day and further escalation anticipated, Bangalore Metro looks pretty expensive. Can Bangalore leapfrog into a next generation public transport system ? The answer today is a resounding "YES".

Mono off the track again

Does not seem long while since we were happy to see some traction with Mono rail. Even bids were being evaluated for Mono. Before we could say 'cheers' the first blow came when BMRC said Metro is too much to handle. Now, the project seems to be totally off the track with the Government changing it mind on how they want the project to be tendered.



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