What’s needed now is strict but humane enforcement

The most shared messages and jokes on WhatsApp groups, probably after demonetisation, are about enhanced traffic penalties. To many, it is panacea to stop the daily hara-kiri on Indian roads. On the other hand, perpetual and habitual violators wonder “Why This Kolaveri Di” about exorbitant fines! No doubt, road infrastructure in our country is not ...

MY OPINION – Saving lives is more important than prosecuting offenders

  A police inspector and his driver, victims of an accident, lay in the middle of a road while passersby stopped, watched, took videos and selfies and pretended to help by offering water, asking how it happened, when all they were expected to do was to shift them to the hospital.Instances like this that should ...

MY OPINION – Suicide threats are increasingly becoming instruments of extortion

Recently , eight missed calls from a close friend heading a million-dollar company took me by surprise.He had an issue at hand; his driver requested (read demanded) Rs 2 lakh as loan to overcome his financial problems. When my friend refused, he threatened to commit suicide along with his family members, citing harassment. The recent ...

MY OPINION – Success depends on ability to take private vehicles off roads

The euphoria over opening of the east west Metro line is understandable. Cutting the travel time from 90 to 30 minutes is a dream come true for most of us. Commuters are enjoying half-empty roads along the direction of Metro. A substantially higher benefit of the Metro will come after the north-south link opens with ...

Let’s find the truth, and not loopholes

  The nation is hardly bothered to know whether Bollywood actor Salman Khan was drunk or not. Whether he was driving on the D-day or not? What concerns every citizen of this country is why it took 13 long years for the system to decide a simple matter of fact? Why was the tax payers’ ...

MY OPINION – Vehicle No. rule an odd solution to even problem

There is an old saying, `Don’t legislate what one can’t implement’. Knee-jerk announcements can malign even otherwise good solutions. Without any data, feasibility studies and an iota of preparation, even the best ideas can turn into disasters. Legislations without effective implementation machinery can make life more difficult for law-abiding citizens, making them vulnerable to exploitation.Who ...

MY OPINION – If CBD is not made pedestrian friendly, where else can it be?

Most Bengalureans would possibly disapprove of any support to TenderSURE. It is understandable considering their u sufferings due to unending civil works resulting in snail’s pace of traffic in the CBD. Why spend such a fortune on such a small stretch of road? Why do we need uwider pavements when there is so much of ...

MY OPINION – Good roads need good behaviour

MY OPINION - Good roads need good behaviour
<img src=”http://b.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=6036484&cv=2.0&cj=1″ /> Fatal accidents like the recent one involving a young bride-to-be on her short visit to Bengaluru from Hong Kong do not augur wel for the image of the city and its citizens. But this is not the first time that somebody on his way to or from the airpor has become the ...

MY OPINION – Innocent even after being pronounced guilty

MY OPINION - Innocent even after being pronounced guilty
                        Bollywood coming out in support of Salman Khan isn’t surpris ing. No one expected them to say otherwise. But asking people not to sleep on pavements or governments to rehabilitate all such squatters give the impression that they woke up to this harsh ...

Skywalks are required but…

Skywalks are required but...
                          Any agitation for skywalks and pedestrian subways can never be termed unjustified. In fact, there is urgent need to migrate from motorist-centric to pedestrian-oriented policies. Every widening of road is done at the expense of the footpath, thereby forcing more and more ...