The Weekly Observer Volume 16 Issue 6
An IIJNM Publication
Organized chaos on city’s Outer Ring Road
BU’s faculty crunch leaves students perplexed By Prabhakar Kumar prabhakar.t@iijnm.org
By Shannon Ridge Court shannon.c@iijnm.org
BENGALURU- The Outer Ring Road is designed as a fourlane road, but it takes the load of six-lane traffic, with vehicles using the service roads on each side. HAL Traffic Police confirmed 35 fatal accidents, 39 fatalities and 138 nonfatal accidents recorded have taken place on the ORR from January to 31st May this year. The Outer Ring Road was built to ease traffic movement in the city, but ironically provides some of the biggest traffic jams. During peak hours those commuting from Maratahalli Bridge to Ecospace may find themselves stuck in traffic 2-4 hours at a stretch. There has been an increase of 84 lakh vehicles in the city when there is space for only 22 lakh, said HAL Traffic Inspector S.R. Chandradhar. In addition 2,500 vehicles come into Bengaluru each month and 6,000 buses run on the roads each day. The Outer Ring Road is a 62 km long stretch that runs around the perimeter of Bengaluru. Developed by the Bangalore Development Authority, different sections were opened progressively during 1996 and 2002. The ORR was envisioned as an expressway with overpasses at every junction, a prohibition on right hand turns and free left hand turns – all allowing free and contin-
Friday, 30 September 2016
With traffic signals spoilt, traffic pours in from all corners on Marathalli Bridge.
uous flow of traffic. ”With more tech parks coming up along the ORR, accidents could become more frequent. Hebbal to Silk Board junction has a problematic stretch for about 19 kilometres. There are nearly 200 firms in the vicinity which has lead to the decrease in the average speeds for vehicles to about 25 per cent, “said police inspector S.R. Chandradhar. “The IT belt has over 1,400 companies spread across Maratahalli and Bellandur junctions near Sarjapur Road, Mahadevpura, ITPL and Hope Farm in Whitefield.” he added. Chandradhar said “Last year,
the traffic police informed the BBMP about 38 locations within the city that needed footbridges, opposite Kala Mandir and Innovative Multiplex at Maratahalli and at Hosakerehalli, all on the ORR. We have made recommendations for skywalks near malls.” Companies that operate out of Ecospace and Prestige Tech Park are witness to thousands of vehicles during peak hours. The pile up at the Silk Board Junction stretches to Sarjapur Road and at KR Puram up to Maratahalli, making the stretch treacherous. There are no arterial roads connecting to Whitefield. “
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BENGALURUBangalore University is facing a shortage of teaching staff as it has only 365 teaching staff against 590 sanctioned teaching posts. Bangalore University, in its last Academic and Administrative Audit (AAA) carried out by a committee in 2014 headed by Prof. B. Hanumanaiah, stated the above mentioned figures. The report further states that out of 1,171 sanctioned posts for non teaching staff, only 731 remain filled. This amounts to about 38 per cent shortage of teaching and non-teaching staff in the university. According to the latest data available, department of Kannada Studies has 15 sanctioned posts but 13 of them are lying vacant. In the department of Civil Engineering, 24 posts out of 58 remain
empty. Similarly, in the Electronics and Communication Engineering department, 15 out of 23 posts require permanent teachers. Shortages are witnessed in several other departments including the department of Mathematics and department of Studies in Communication. On the contrary, there are departments such as the Hindi, Urdu and History where the number of teachers is one more than the sanctioned teaching posts. Prof. B. Thimme Gowda, the Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University said “All posts should be filled by permanent teaching staff for smooth conduct of academic affairs in the university.” He also mentioned, “Recruiting teachers permanently is not in our hands.
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The Bangalore University faces a shortage of teachers in the Electronics and comunication department whereas there are extra teachers for Hindi, Urdu.
Thirsty throats at Rajendra Nagar By Azmia Riaz azmia.r@iijnm.org
KORAMANGALA-Rajendra Nagar is a colony where small houses stand lined up beside a canal that is overflowing with waste. The streets are crowded with screaming children and meandering cows. Children skip over mounds of cow dung and play frantically beneath strings that hang above them, bending under the weight of a dozen wet clothes. The air is heavy with the pungent smell from the canal that residents have already got used to. They point to half empty water tanks outside each of their houses. There has been no water for more than two days. Dry spells are not new to Rajendra Nagar residents. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) have introduced different services to various categories of slums. Its Social Development Unit
Streets of rajendra nagar are crowded with children and wandering cows.
“assumed the responsibility of reducing slum dwellers reliance on public taps by offering them the options of either individual or shared connections. In many slums people had also connected illegally to the system and had been enjoying free water.” The BWSSB has set up individual motors that pump Cauvery water into various homes. Half of the houses have pumps installed and
tanks to save excess water. However, the supply continues to be erratic. Many families complain that the water they receive is contaminated. New arrivals Sridhar and his family say that all six of their children have already been hospitalized in just two weeks of their move to Rajendra Nagar. Residents along the street were quick to fetch their medical bills as proof of illness stem-
ming from contaminated water. Diseases like jaundice and dengue have becoming common, they say. Philomena, a real-estate agent, who has lived in the area for most of her life says, “My sister’s daughter has been getting ill on and off for months now. I have no doubt that it is because of the water.” Most of the residents have been treated at the Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Charitable Hospital in Halasuru where they receive free treatment. Dr. Kadam, the vice chairman of the hospital, confirms that the patients are undoubtedly affected by their living conditions. Outside his office, patients complain that their medical bills have surpassed their means. Officers in the BWSSB service station and the Cauvery Bhavan are largely unaware of the situation. They insist that most of the houses in the area are covered. An Official at the Cauvery Bhavan office explained that most residents are late
to pay their water bills. He further explains that, “We have installed bulk meters in addition to the individual water meters in every house to measure the amount of water that is being utilised by each house and the slum as a whole. Some residents remove this meter to avoid billing. When the meter is removed, contaminated water from the surrounding sewage makes its ways into the pipeline. How could this not lead to diseases?” The sixth Sustainable Development Goal is to “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” The World Bank estimates “21% of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe water. Diarrhoea alone has caused more than 1,600 deaths daily.” Water availability and sanitation have improved in the country, but a lack of uniformity in the implementation of schemes remains.