Karnataka - Bangalore

Blame roads for your long hours away from home

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Nowhere to go: The steep increase in the vehicle population and the inadequate infrastructure have added to traffic jams in Bangalore.

BANGALORE: The stress levels of Bangaloreans go up a few notches every morning when they turn on the ignition. They take a deep breath before easing their vehicles on to the road, and then face their daily quota of traffic jams which have become the order of the day.

Hapless citizens of the country’s IT capital now find their hours away from home extended thanks to roads choked with heat, dust and pollution. Traffic jams, once limited to the central business district, have now become a regular feature in every part of the city.

Officials connected with traffic management attribute the chaos on road mainly to the steep increase in the vehicle population and the inadequate infrastructure. According to senior police and Transport Department officials, 600 new vehicles are registered in Bangalore every day.

The existing road network in Bangalore can accommodate only 10 lakh vehicles, whereas there are 32 lakh vehicles in the city. While there is no scope to widen the roads, two lakh new vehicles hit the road annually, says Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic-East) M.B. Mallikarjuna Swamy, pointing to the poor infrastructure.

Besides the creaky infrastructure, the shortage of staff in the city’s traffic police wing is also contributing to the problem. Sources in the police told The Hindu that there are around 46,000 intersections in the city and it is impossible to man even a quarter of them with the available staff. The present traffic police to vehicle ratio is 1:4,500, the sources said.

Further, unprecedented economic development in the past decade has also compounded the traffic problems. Several malls, commercial complexes, IT companies, and apartments have come up on arterial roads, choking these already busy roads. While granting permission for these projects, civic authorities have blatantly ignored the traffic aspect, lament senior police officers.

Traffic volume on Hosur Road, Airport Road, Bannerghatta Road, Whitefield Road and Old Madras Road have gone up manifold because of 24/7 movement of IT and ITES company vehicles.

Of late, another phenomenon — rallies and demonstrations — has been frequently causing gridlock in the central business district. Taking note of the inconvenience such rallies have been causing to the public, the Karnataka High Court had, in July 2006, directed the State Government to provide land outside the city for holding rallies. The court also observed that processions taken out by political parties and organisations should not pass through the streets in the city. However, the Government has not taken any steps in this regard.

In 2005, the then Commissioner of Police S. Mariswamy had suggested to the Government to designate the old Central Prison premises on Sheshadri Road for holding rallies. But the Government turned down the suggestion.

According to Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic-Central) K. Eshwar Prasad, most of the processions originate from either Chikkalalbagh, Nehru Park in Seshadripuram or Banappa Park and pass through the busy Mysore Bank Circle, Kempegowda Road, Hudson Circle, K.R. Circle, GPO Circle and Gopala Gowda Circle.

About one lakh vehicles pass through Hudson Circle every hour daily during peak time.

One can imagine the situation if this busy junction is blocked for hours as it had happened during several rallies in the past.

While the public wants the police to take steps to divert vehicular movement and clear traffic jams during processions, senior police officials say such diversions are not always possible.

There are no parallel roads in the busy areas where processions can be allowed on one road and vehicles diverted to the other.

Most of the roads are already carrying traffic far more than their capacity. Diversion of vehicles during rallies is difficult as none of the processions start on time. They are normally taken out two or three hours beyond the schedule, say the harried police.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu