It's interesting to see the reactions to a mildly +ve posts on BLR. Immediately, people take an example of one stretch here and there and try to counter my argument about BLR's platforms.
I know it is received wisdom on BRF to say all is bad in BLR, and it is true in many areas. But no harm in appreciating the good as when one sees it. As JayS saar said, the storm water drains in many places are finished so they are walkable and form a mini-platform therein. Yes, many main road platforms aren't walkable and level (I didn't argue that they are smooth as a certain actress' cheek

), but the space has been allotted and more or less preserved. Tendersure is making use of this space to give a better experience. I brought in Chennai since in the nineties I used to be able to walk home from school on proper platforms. But then Stalin as mayor decided to de-congest the roads by widening them at the cost of platforms, and that was the end of it. Lots of road congestion in BLR could be solved by simply widening the road as was done in Chennai - take any of the main roads in Whitefield/ITPL or even around Lalbagh. But so far, that has not happened, and I do appreciate BBMP for that. At least pedestrians don't have to dodge traffic while trying to get to a bus stop or a store. Saying two wheelers ride on these platforms is missing the point. I'd rather trip and fall on a platform rather than be hit by a stray 2-wheeler from behind.
I was in Mylapore in Chennai this week and was pleasantly surprised to see platforms on all the Mada streets around the temple. This is also the case in some of the newly added areas like Nanganallur, where storm water drains are being finished with walkable paths on top. But they are invariably only 5 feet wide and did not help walking at all - shop fronts, EB poles, parking meters, etc. took up most of the space, forcing me back on the street. Not a single pedestrian was walking on these structures, and anyone who knows Mylapore knows how pedestrian intensive that area is. This is what I alluded to - platforms are joke in Chennai - might as well remove them completely rather than building these ornamental granite slab ones and ticking a form saying "done".