The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Reporter's Diary

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Reporter's Diary

Good news?

NEWS ABOUT work on the Bangalore Metro starting soon appears to have come just in time. All over town there are now excavations, barricaded with Metro signage, where engineers are presumably busy figuring out ways to shift underground utility pipes and cables.

With the recent Union Budget helping to bring the "small car" concept closer to more middleclass families and banks competing with each other to advance car loans, the 24 lakh vehicles on our roads may soon grow rapidly.

A reliable, fast public transit system is the only alternative and many hapless city commuters hope politicians will not interfere again with the Metro project. Already on some stretches of the central business district, the pedestrian is faster than many drivers.

A trip to the Banyan Tree

IF YOU haven't visited Doddaalada Mara (Big Banyan Tree) off Mysore Road, it is time to do so. Do take your children with you. They will like it a lot there. If children are studying for examination, wait for them to finish it and then go.

The tree has beautiful, green cover and the shade under it is great. The park under the huge tree (its branches have spread over a hectare or so) is well developed now. The leaves are full of youth and you will love to watch several prop roots attempting to touch the earth. Though most prop roots make a straight line to earth, some have interesting shapes, mostly arches. You may wonder how this has happened and bring forth your own theory.

The thickness of some of the prop roots and the height from which they try to "touch down" will certainly amaze you. Then there is this huge branch (or is it a prop root) that has grown about 10 to 15 metres along the ground (partially buried) only to rise above the ground at the end, and is covered by green leaves.

You cannot help but love the bold monkeys that reside in and around the tree. They will never let you get bored. But if you are not carrying something attractive, they will find you boring and move away. Snatching vanity bags from women, it would seem, is their favourite hobby.

Luckily, the park has many cement benches — both with and without back support — on which you can sit back and relax.

Escalators for public

THE CHIEF Minister recently announced that pedestrian overbridges installed across busy roads in many parts of the city were too steep. He had instead preferred escalators. Pedestrians would just need to step on it, and they would be automatically transferred up and down in minutes.

Of course, the escalators in the city's burgeoning shopping malls look grand, techno-savvy. But we have also heard about the escalator accidents... accidents that happened despite the presence of security, and people experienced in the art of safely mounting such escalators.

Now, consider the escalators across the roads. Unattended, these installations are bound to raise safety concerns. Perhaps, after many months, people might get used to it. But, accidents don't wait for special occasions.

Govind D. Belgaumkar

and Rasheed Kappan

K. Satyamurty, Govind D. Belgaumkar and Rasheed Kappan

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