Even non-believers approach the Minerva Circle with prayer on their lips, for what lies ahead of them every day is a nightmare: bumper-to-bumper vehicles that move like an army of snails.
There was a sense of déjà vu when Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) budget for 2014-15 announced the construction of an elevated steel bridge to ease the traffic from Minerva Circle to Hudson Circle, since similar plans had been floated earlier but never got off the ground. The project had also faced criticism by some experts earlier as being unfeasible.
However, South Bangaloreans – for whom J.C. Road is an unavoidable stretch to reach Central Business District – have some reason to feel a wee bit more hopeful this time, since there are signs that the BBMP is making some effort to take the project forward. BBMP officials say that the Rs. 139-crore project for the four-lane, bi-directional flyover has been sent for administrative sanction to the government, after which second-stage tenders will be called. Pre-qualification tenders were floated two months ago, in which three out of five bidders qualified.
Though there is a long way to go from here, South Bangaloreans can at least hope for better days while craning their necks to see if there is a dharna at Town Hall.
Is there a technology fix for the city’s intractable parking woes? The young team of engineers behind the Parkitekt app certainly believe so.
What they’ve come up with is a simple Android app that connects parking space holders with parking space seeker.
The app basically allows commuters to check availability of cheap parking options nearby. This is fetched from a database generated by compiling a list of space-holders (that is local businesses, stores or restaurants). The app allows people to, in an easy manner, upload details of their space up on a parking map. Parkitekt, a name derived from ‘Parking architect’ was created by the company led by software engineer Swaroop Sagar, along with three other friends who studied with him in R.V. College of Engineering. Created by Roadeo Studios, it is a free app available on GooglePlay.
All four app creators have day jobs at MNCs and this is an interest they formed while doing their final year project on intelligent transport systems.
Mr. Sagar, in an email interaction, said: “These days, when so much has gone mobile, why not e-parking we thought; why not create a database of all legal parking spots available in Bangalore and share this information through mobile app. Now we have enough skill and money to take our student level project to next level and Parkitekt was developed.” The team has a grand motto in place: “Parking for everyone, by everyone”.
