Bypass surgery

B angalore viewed from the air gives you a distinct feeling of a city undergoing bypass surgery.  There is the Hebbal flyover that was completed in 2003 — at the time, at 5.35km, it was the longest flyover in the country.

There’s the Jayadeva flyover, the Silk Board Junction to Electronic City elevated expressway, flyovers at Richmond  Road, Sirsi Circle, Anandrao Circle, Domlur, one at Krishnarajapuram, at the airport, the new ones coming up on the Outer Ring Road to ensure there are no signals on ORR.

The list is endless. And now we have the metro coming up. Maybe even a monorail. Yes, Bangalore is undergoing surgery on a massive scale. It’s almost as if the city is being bestowed with a fresh lease of life, a renewed shot at survival — and who knows, an opportunity to shine again.

The signs of accelerated urban growth are all around — quite evident from the chaos they unleash by, ironically, increasing congestion and reducing traffic movement to a teeth-gnashing, BP-ballooning crawl. Bangalore has become, along with its 24X7 business culture, a 24X7 vehicular nightmare. It’s bypass surgery without anesthetics. 

But the building of flyovers, which is in overdrive at the moment, points to more than traffic growth and the increased usage and ownership of vehicles. New transport infrastructure paradoxically creates a demand for travel — longer trips using vehicles and finally, more frequent trips. End result:  An increase in demand for vehicles, further congestion, more accidents and eventually additional bypass surgery. Yes, before we forget, a growing market for Nanos, too. 

When you think about it seriously, and go beyond the obvious benefits of new infrastructure, there are several remarkable questions that come into play. For example, is the investment in infrastructure the price we pay for maintaining old vehicles on the streets? Would it be better to weed out the vehicles that add to the congestion due to their frequent breakdowns and the inability to keep pace with traffic on modern roads? 

Is the investment in road infrastructure the price we pay for owners of private cars, scooters and other vehicles who don’t have their own parking space and tend to use public property, adding to congestion? Anyone who has driven on Bangalore’s roads knows the intense competition provided by private vehicle owners to legitimate users of public roads. Shouldn’t the BDA, the BBMP, BMRDA, BMTC, the Bangalore Police and the chief minister address these fundamental issues before crowing about money being sunk into roads and flyovers?

Is the investment in road infrastructure the price we pay for builders of office and commercial space not providing adequate parking, forcing vehicle owners to park on public streets, choking the city and compelling it to sign away massve funds towards increased roads?

Is the investment in road infrastructure the price we pay for car-dominated societies that add to pollution and, via the extended growth of the city, to urban sprawl and altered spatial structures that impact society?

Doubtless, the changing spatial organisation of Bangalore will bring with it unprecedented cultural transformation as societies get fractured and fragmented. Bangalore’s social fabric is about to witness inconceivable stress as workplaces get distanced from homes; as schools get isolated from residential localities; and as shopping and commercial centres get concentrated instead of remaining small and distributed. 

The impact of well-meaning, simple, well-built, modern roads and flyovers is truly unimaginable. While they do appear to connect people to their livelihoods, children to their schools and markets to consumers, they also shear away life and in a completely absurd and bizarre manner take away exactly what they try to deliver. 

However, from the outside, it does appear as if the growth in roads and flyovers is leading people towards the outskirts of the city — an encouraging trend as it will help develop satellite townships.

For example, with the flyover coming up between Kadagudi at Whitefield that goes over the railway line and the Sai Baba Ashram, an entirely new part of the extended city becomes accessible. This — the area towards Hebbal — will clearly be amongst the several new growth area around Bangalore. 

What should be engineered by design and through astute urban planning is to discourage movement towards the city centre, reduce congestion in the inner heart of the city, thereby making it safe to use simpler modes of transport like bicycles. Traditionally, in dense localities, societies have tended to use bicycles to get around. And in areas that are more open —sometimes identified as the playgrounds of the rich — the use of automobiles has grown.

So while we may be proud of the fact that Bangalore has a big heart, it certainly needs to think about where to get the next bypass done.