Balakundry Circle – A Hotspot for traffic snarls

Balakundry Circle – A Hotspot for traffic snarls
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: If the perennial traffic congestion at S G Balakundry Circle is any indication, it seems the Bangalore Traffic Police and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation officers have to do some homework.

More than 10,000 BMTC buses pass through this circle opposite the Parsi Temple every day.

The traffic police had converted the Dr Ambedkar Veedhi (from Balakundry circle to Police Thimmaiah circle, near GPO) into a one way two years ago.

Since then all the buses heading to Majestic and KR Market have been diverted from the circle through Queen’s Road to Rajbhavan Road to take a left turn at GPO circle for their respective destinations.

It is surprising that neither the traffic police nor the BMTC officials have bothered to see the impact of the traffic congestion at the circle, especially during peak hours. The narrow circle makes it difficult for buses to pass through.

The other disadvantage is that commuters, instead of waiting at the designated bus stops, wait at the circle and some of the bus drivers also compound the congestion by stopping buses at the circle.

“It is tough to board the bus since all the commuters are in a great hurry to get inside the bus,” says Mani, who comes to Cunningham Road from Ulsoor daily.

It is quite surprising why the traffic police made this part of Dr Ambedkar Road one way, as the road is wide enough to accommodate buses heading towards Majestic and K R Market.

With traffic police constables concentrating on traffic violators, there is no one to regulate the flow of commuters who block the way for buses. “It is the duty of the commuters to wait at the bus-stop.

“If anyone advises them the former will be treated as an untouchables by the latter,” says Thimmaiah.

If the police officials reconsider their decision and allow BTMC buses to enter Dr Ambedkar Road from Balakundry Circle itself, the State Government can save lot of money on diesel and avoid traffic congestion at the circle.

Pollution can be brought down to some extent by facilitating the smooth flow of traffic at the circle and the traffic police can have some relief while commuters can board buses to their respective destinations without much difficulty.

Can we expect the BMTC and the Traffic Police to meet and sort out this perennial traffic problem?