Saturday, March 15, 2008

Is DevnhaLLi airport too far? we found out...


Errbody nowadays, even the 24/7 channels all over the cable bandwidth, are ranting about how horrible traffic conditions are in and BengaLooru and how impractical is it to throw the BIAL aka devanhaLLi airport open to public. So it was high time that my wife and I, as dutiful denizens of Hebbal, which is just (ahem!) 30km away from the airport, drove the distance for ourselves and published our report to the general masses. So here goes:

0900: "yaawn.., are we going on the drive?"
0945: "ಅಮ್ಮ, ಗುಳ್ಳಪ್ಪ ಸಕ್ಕತ್ತಾಗಿದೆ!"
0954: "off we go! meter reading: 116728"
1004: First traffic holdup @ kodigehaLLi gate - 5min
1020: second traffic holdup @ yelahanka bypass - 2min
1035: cruise past trumpet flyover...and the airport entrance
1040: u-turn!
1043: 50 minutes and a 10km deviation later, we're there! meter reading: 116765
1044: Airport 5km stretch entrance: "Sorry madam, get pass from hebbal police station"
1045: On the way bacc, drive's smooth as krayzie bone's flow!
1114: 30 min from the airport and we're at Hebbal flyover! meter reading: 116788

Verdict: The drive from Hebbal is a breeze; the 25km drive took roughly 45 min to, and 35 min from, the airport. This was a weekend but there's no ITPL or electronics city thisaway to account for any substantial addition of traffic on weekdays. Also, even if the airport opens, given the wide roads of Byatarayanapura and beyond, traffic on this final stretch of the drive still should not be a deterrant.
And driving the sierra at 2000 rpm on this stretch roccs! figuratively of course ...

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