Traffic woes of Bangalore

I think, I am nth person or probably even the last person to write/ talk about the traffic woes of Bangalore. I also read/ know several of those, infact some of them are extremely innovative e.g. separate lanes for autorickshaws, even/odd numbered vehicles will be allowed on alternate days, use public transport, use alternate routes, different timings for offices (e.g. 7am - 4pm), companies incentivizing employees who come early, car-pooling etc. But have we seen any improvement?

In my view, we have to understand the problem better to give a solution. Problem is not autorickshaws, office timings etc. but the problem lies in 3 simple things
a) Lack of roads or space to expand roads
b) Highly heterogenous vehicle traffic and a majority of vehicles are 2-wheelers
c) No traffic regulation

The solution is also simple but requires a tough traffic police, intelligent administrative system, cooperative society and genuine effort from politicians.
These solutions are
a) majority of area in Bangalore is owned by Army and Airforce units, these installations need to moved outside of city and area has to be freed up for optimal utilization of resources. This will increase the area available for development by at least 80%
b) All new layouts should compulsorily have elevated flyovers and speedways - pre-designed
c) Separate lanes for 2-wheelers and this should be strictly implemented. This will avoid the choke at major junctions most of the times.
d) Whether it is bmtc, ksrtc, autorickshow etc. or any other vehicle, anyone who violates the traffic should be penalized and the license should be on hold for 3 months after 3 offences. We have extremely poor respect to traffic rules especially the BMTC buses and autorickshaws.
e) Trucks etc. shouldn't be allowed anywhere in the city including the outer ring road between 6am and 10pm. This will reduce the congestion by at least 40% on every road.

As a responsible bangaloreans we should all respect the traffic rules, if it is red light then it means STOP, it doesnt mean that we can jump it if there is no traffic coming! Zebra crossing is for pedestrians NOT for yours and mine car/ bike! Honking is avoidable all the time.

Just a thought, why we all become human when we are in USA/ Singapore or any other country where as we loose our human behaviour when we are in India.

Problems are human therefore the solution needs to be human-based only.

Satyam Saga ...IT Companies pandora's box

Last one-month around, we are all getting over-doses of Satyam Saga. This makes me wonder, is Satyam a one-off case? Or is it something like one of our Government Scams, that appear once every quarter, we enjoy them to the fullest every time thinking that it is another NEW and INNOVATIVE one, forget about it after a quarter and move on....
Why we hear all bad news as coincidence during the recession time that companies are firing employees as part of their Background Verification Process (of employees who are on the payroll for last 3+ years!!!), or for performance or for involving in fudging the medical bills etc. We read all those news items with great interest and discuss them during our breakout sessions.

But seriously, do we have several other Satyams hidden away? Several MNCs worldwide have a policy not to invest in real estate and only to build campuses in leased accommodations. Where as if I just look at our domestic peers, most of the IT MNCs who have benefited from the bug of Y2K have either investment in real-estate or forced state governments to dole out rich agricultural land or prime land at throw away prices to them to build campuses....and they are darlings of every state government.
Actually in last one-year, IT companies abandoning a state for the lack of land allotment by the state government is in the news rather than IT companies making investments in the eGovernance sector at their own cost. Why don't we audit the reasons for dolling out tax-free environment, land at throw-away prices etc. by various governments to various IT Companies?
I think, we are used to the smell of rotten rat, when we ourselves are sitting on the pile of garbage.
Un-doubtedly there are several big and small satyam's around us. Some of them inflate their balance sheets, some of them bribe their way to top, some of them cajole governments to decrease their cost-structures, many flirt with various levels of bureaucracy and political levels to get business...
How true it is when we come out of the B-Schools and are told that...what lies ahead is the Business Jungle, where only the fittest survive...
I salute the rare few fit companies who are still herbivores in this jungle.