Restoring to the Garden City its pristine glory

By Sunil Pichamuthu

At one time, Bangalore was known as the Garden City, and later, as the Silicon Valley of Asia. But today this concrete jungle has become infested with environmental pollution that was alien to it two and a half decades ago. The cause: Congested vehicular traffic. Flyovers, instead of clearing the log-jam have worsened the plight of motorists.

A simple solution is available to ease the piquant situation that the City has been facing since the mid-1970s. This concept involves a system of underground roads (sub-roads) exclusively meant for users of cars and motorcycles. The plan calls for building roads and streets below the existing ones with entry and exit ramps at select points on certain avenues and lanes. All other forms of traffic including pedestrian movement should not be permitted on these sub-roads to ensure smooth vehicular movement and prevent accidents.

Cars and motorcycles can use the top surface roads -- but only those who actually need to -- and this will reduce the heavy rush of traffic. A majority of the long-distance vehicular traffic can use the bottom-layer roads. Office-goers and shoppers can access basement parking lots in complexes directly from the sub-roads.

Initially, the concept can be tried out on an experimental basis on a few roads and streets. The underground roads should be designed to be of appropriate height to permit heavy vehicles such as buses and container lorries to move without hindrance. There will be no loss of greenery as in the case of ordinary roads when they are widened. The excavation process can go on simultaneously to establish the underground roads without pruning or hewing the roots of trees as the sub-roads will be built below the surface roads. Fewer vehicles will logically use the existing roads and make it much safer for pedestrian traffic.

Another major incentive is that there is practically no need for land acquisition. Traffic malaises such as log-jams and arguments between motorists can become a thing of the past. The greatest beneficiaries will be students during peak traffic hours.

Lighting

The underground roads can be lit by Light Emitting Diodes (LED) solar-powered traffic lights at sub-road junctions and at entry points to these passages. Air circulation units too can be solar- powered by solar cell panels fixed to existing electric posts on the roadside. The entry-exit ramps and turn-offs within the sub- roads can be marked by signs suspended from the roofs of the sub- roads.

The entries and exits can be provided with rolling shutters to close the opening points when required. Telephone and power cables, and water and sewage lines can run through concealed conduits (similar to domestic concealed wiring) in the wall of the sub-roads with inspection hatches at regular intervals to enable the maintenance staff to repair faults without digging up roads.

Garbage disposal

Garbage disposal too will becomes hygienic and more efficient if fully-covered bins are located on pavements above the sub-roads. An inlet with a lid can be provided, which can be opened by means of a foot pedal or electronic eye when a person intending to dump garbage is detected. Hatches can be built under these bins to ensure that the waste is loaded directly by opening the hatches into civic lorries on sub-roads. This will ensure cleanliness and the minimum use of manual labour. Stray cattle and rag-pickers will be unable to rummage through the garbage thus preventing the waste material from being strewn on the roads. This will also prevent stray animals from loitering on the roads.

Regarding the provision of garbage bins on streets without sub- roads, covered bins can be supplied having an inlet with a lid which can open when a person wants to dump garbage and an outlet on the farthest side from the inlet that is provided with a locked lid which can be opened only by BMP personnel. The floor will be sloped from the inlet to the base. A concrete or fibre- glass base can be provided to the floor of the garbage bin, which is solar-powered and designed to vibrate to separate the heavy waste material, which will settle at the bottom and be separated from lighter garbage such as paper and plastic, which will collect at the top. An electronic level indicator can show when the bin is full. The bin can be equipped with an ultraviolet lamp system to sterilise the garbage. All the operations can be solar- powered.

Technology can be adopted for the construction of the Bangalore- Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project by providing an ecologically-safe underground passage without disturbing the surrounding environment.

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