Latest news with #VRavichandar
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Bus lanes, Metro work in Bengaluru need urgent push: Experts
BENGALURU: Amid the political back-and-forth over which infrastructure project deserves priority, mobility experts have called on the state government to refocus on public transport, especially Metro expansion, bus services and pedestrian infrastructure to meaningfully address Bengaluru's traffic crisis. Sanjeev Dyamannavar, mobility expert, highlighted the long delays in construction of underground Metro corridors to caution against overly ambitious tunnelling projects. He said, 'Phase 2 of the Metro was sanctioned in 2014. Now we're in 2025 and the Kalena Agrahara to Nagawara stretch, mostly underground, still hasn't opened. You can imagine the challenges of tunnelling in Bengaluru.' He also stressed the unfulfilled promise of the Bengaluru Suburban Rail project. 'One of its outcomes was meant to be the removal of all level crossings in the city to reduce congestion. That hasn't happened. Our elected representatives and administrators are not treating this project with urgency. There's no review, no pressure, no push.' Civic evangelist V Ravichandar joined Dyamannavar in flagging the poor state of road and drain infrastructure. 'BBMP must take up proper maintenance of stormwater drains and ensure desilted mud is not left on the roadside. It just washes back in.' He added that carpooling and cab sharing should be promoted to reduce the volume of vehicles on roads. 'The most important projects we should prioritise are public transport and this includes Metro, suburban rail, bus, walkability and cycling infrastructure. Given that the biggest challenge for Bengaluru is outer ring road and that the Blue Line Metro is still under construction, the single biggest intervention that can yield quick results is revival of the bus priority lane on ORR, which was suspended due to Metro construction,' said Srinivas Alavilli, fellow at World Resources Institute India. With the city's vehicle population nearing 1.3 crore, experts said without immediate and sustained investment in public transport infrastructure, the city's mobility crisis will deepen. Bridging the gap between rapid urban expansion and accessible, efficient transport systems is no longer optional, it is essential for the city's sustainability and quality of life.
Time of India
6 days ago
- General
- Time of India
41st anniversary of The Times of India, Bengaluru: Making space for all in the open
BY: V Ravichandar Public Spaces Are Critical In The Creation Of Successful Cities Where They Serve Ecological, Recreational And Aesthetic Roles It is an unfortunate reality that the rapid urbanisation of Bengaluru from the 1980s to date, has led to a realty boom of rampant, unbridled construction and encroachments have shrunk open spaces in the city. A recent study notes a 1,628-hectare reduction of water surface area to 696 hectares between 1973 and 2023. The 1995 masterplan indicated open spaces to be 25%. You Can Also Check: Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru The latest estimates are 6%, a 75% reduction. It is stating the obvious when we note that public, community spaces have been rapidly disappearing faster than Ravi Shastri's tracer bullets. A city comes alive in its public spaces. It's in the parks, lakes, performance spaces, community centres, art galleries, gatherings in street corners, fields that we have a shared communal experience that in many ways is an essential part of life. Public spaces are akin to a spa for the mind and soul. Its availability invigorates us; its absence diminishes our quality of living. We revere the city's founder, Kempegowda, but ignore his mother's advice - 'Keregalam kattu, marangalam nedu' (Build lakes, plant trees). Thousands of tanks down to low three digits, many of them riddled with sewage. No large park of note, post Lalbagh and Cubbon Park. The maintenance and upkeep of government auditoriums for public events has been abysmal. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Braintree: If You Were Born Between 1940-1975 You Could Be Eligible For This Life Cover Reassured Get Quote Undo In essence, it's been a story of neglect of public spaces over time. It's not all doomsday news on the public spaces front. Since 2010, there have been many private initiatives with a larger public purpose that are slowly improving the quality of social life in the city. The original Bangalore Habba by Padmini Ravi and Nandini Alva in early 2000s showed what was possible if you considered streets too to be a large open canvas for a city festival. Arundhati Nag's Ranga Shankara made theatre, particularly Kannada plays, accessible to a wide local population – that she managed to complete the project braving the odds is less known. Jagriti by Arundhati and Jagdish Raja was an oasis in parched Whitefield. They were the early trailblazers. Two recent additions have been by enlightened city realtors, who clearly realise the value of fostering spaces for arts and culture: The Prestige Centre for Performing Arts and the Brigade group-upgraded Venkatappa Art Gallery. They were preceded by Indian Music Experience and Museum of Art & Photography by Abhishek Poddar. Currently, NGMA sports a vibrant arts calendar thanks to energetic leadership. And the Chitrakala Parishad has held its own over the years and its annual Chitra Santhe has grown by leaps and bounds, indicative of the city's desire for more. As a tech city, spaces for science has kept pace with the needs. Bengaluru Science Gallery, Param Science Centre and Curiouscity have been attracting visitors old and young. And there have been a host of smaller locations like Atta Galatta, Ahum, Courtyard Koota, Courtyard, Shoonya and others have played host to audiences interested in arts and culture. The Attakkalari Dance Biennale, Nrityagram, Natya Stem academy have catered to varied dance forms. The Happy Streets by The Times of India has been a celebration of the city, locality by locality. One saw similar energy during the Hubba in your parks in 2024. Now BBMP is continuing the Park Habba tradition. There are four initiatives this author has helped catalyse – Bangalore Literature Festival, Bangalore International Centre, Unboxing's BLR Hubba and Sabha. Of these, three are publicly funded, free-to-attend event spaces. The last space is a connect with the past restoring a 160-year building as a public space for arts and culture. This author has self-depreciatingly called himself patron saint of lost causes. He now has cause to graduate to be a self-appointed mayor for public spaces! While many of the above could be considered quasi-elitist and middle class-focused with entry barriers, the recent efforts to make events free is showing some results of increased access. There is much more we must do to make our public spaces truly accessible, akin to the kind of attendance one sees at the karaga or kadalekai parishe or the music season concerts. Author Kiran Keswani has documented the disappearing 'kattes', elements that retain the flavour of the rural past, few of which barely survive the city's rapid expansion and absorption of the peripheral villages. Despite this, kattes have evolved as a bottomup city-making process to meet the daily community needs for a public space and her case study of Dodda Mavalli Katte gives hope of what is possible with community ownership. Public spaces are critical in the creation of successful cities where they serve important ecological, recreational and aesthetic roles. They could be physical spaces or festivals / events many of them in the open. Public spaces have the potential to enhance urban productivity and bring ecological benefits. They act as sites of cross-cultural encounters, where participation in group activities such as festivals and celebrations can occur, where a shared sense of identity can be created. Nationally, Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai have been considered the major cultural centres. Of late, Bengaluru is making reasonable strides to catch up and create its own niche. We need more high net worth individuals with a philanthropic mindset to set aside a small portion of their social funding portfolio for arts and culture. The future lies in privately catalysed, public-purpose institutions and city festivals where government acts as an enabler for these spaces and activities to flourish. Future planning activity must increase the extent of open spaces and renewal of older areas as arts and culture districts. What government chooses to do, including creating new spaces, reviving its dilapidated spaces and sponsorship of events, would be the icing on the cake! That it has opened Freedom Park as a public space beyond just protests gives us reason to hope. (Author is a civic evangelist actively working on the city's hard & soft infrastructure)
Time of India
24-04-2025
- General
- Time of India
‘Our city could also become an art and culture capital', says V Ravichandar
An evident lack of public spaces and infrastructure that Bengaluru's art and culture scene requires has prevented the Garden city from including another much-deserved adage — that of being the capital of art and culture. But, we may not be too far from that, either. The recently restored 160-year-old school building in the heart of Bengaluru that has been transformed into an art hub called Sabha Blr is proof of that. The man behind this initiative, V Ravichandar , whose social media handles describe him as the 'self-appointed' Mayor of Public Spaces, has also been instrumental in bringing the Bangalore International Centre to the city, and has been part of the organising team of the much celebrated annual Bengaluru Habba , held for over a month in the city's public spaces. We speak to Ravichandran to understand his ideas behind these initiatives. 'Everyone knows Bengaluru as the tech capital of India, but it should also be known for its arts and culture,' he states. 'In the recent past, there have been instances where international artistes have refused to perform in the city due to a lack of infrastructure. Bengaluru should not be a city with such issues. We need five times more public spaces than we now have. Public spaces and community centres bring like-minded people together. It is also a space for people who are not from Bengaluru. They can get to know more about the city, and make new friends with like-minded people,' he added. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 10 Mysterious Photos That Cannot Be Explained True Edition Undo Restoring an old building is expensive. If the same space was built on an empty piece of land, the total cost would have been reduced by 40 per cent. But, there is a value of restoring a 160-year-old space like Sabha, which can't be measured by cost V Ravichandar About his recent restoration, Sabha Blr, Ravichandar says, 'My motivation was to create another public space in the city. But I had three things in my mind. One was to create a public space in the city for arts, crafts and culture. The second was to protect heritage structures when a lot of heritage buildings are coming down and modern buildings are taking over. And the third was to set an example and inspire others to recreate more such spaces and make more space for art and culture,' he explains. 'Govt should become an enabler for private art-related initiatives' Yes, there is government support and initiative when it comes to creating more such public spaces. However, in my opinion, while our government can do a lot more, they are constrained in some ways. I feel the government needs to increasingly become an enabler by encouraging the private firms to do work on more such developments. For example, the land belongs to the government, but it can invite a private company to restore, renovate and run these spaces as centres for arts and culture. Best Hindi Movies | Best Tamil Movies | Best Telugu Movies | Best english Movies | Best Malayalam Movies |
