Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Bangalore Fire kills 9

Bangalore's Carlton towers for the uninitiated is the same building that houses TGIF on Airport Road and opposite to the Diamond District commercial complex close to the Domlur flyover. A major fire there killed 9 and seriously injured 60 today. Most deaths were people who panicked and jumped out. Hope all my friends working there are safe.

Also it was reported Fire fighters were delayed by peak-hour traffic jams when trying to reach the seven-storey high Carlton Towers, which begs the question, how many more lives need to be lost before a proper Emergency Response Infrastructure is put in place. Any of us who have lived in Bangalore for any length of time know the death trap Airport Road is at peak traffic hours. It is a pity that a city that writes code to manage most of the world's traffic and transportation systems, is living in 18th century designed traffic systems.

I know I sound like an armchair critic sitting in my cozy office typing off blog posts, but it is time we go back to basics to infrastructure development and town planning for the 21st century to make cities like Bangalore bursting at the seams with such a rapid pace of development and modernization, get a chance to be safe and habitable.

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