Rain affects traffic on major roads in city

Rain affects traffic on major roads in city

The Hindu

Many roads closed to traffic for several hours, vehicles forced to take alternative routes

# Water-level was seven feet near the Rajarajeshwarinagar arch
# Mysore Road closed to traffic from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
# Traffic on Hosur Road affected for the third consecutive day



STRANDED: An overflowing Nayandahalli Lake on Mysore Road resulted in a huge traffic jam that extended from Rajarajeshwarinagar arch to the Ring Road junction on Tuesday night. — Photo: K. Murali Kumar

BANGALORE: Traffic came to a halt for several hours on major roads such as Hosur Road, Bannerghatta Road and Mysore Road on Tuesday because of massive water-logging.

Bannerghatta Road and Mysore Road were closed to traffic and vehicles had to a take a detour. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic-East) M. Abdullah Saleem told The Hindu that because of water-logging near Bilekhalli on Bannerghatta Road, traffic was diverted through J.P. Nagar.

It took several hours to clear Hosur Road, where two-foot water had collected. The traffic was slow and two-wheelers and cars were made to take alternative roads. Poor visibility made things difficult for drivers.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic-West) Basavaraj Y. Malaghatti said seven-foot water had collected on the Bangalore-Mysore highway, near the Rajarajeshwarinagar arch.

Vehicles coming from Mysore side were diverted towards Chandra Layout and those going towards Mysore were made to pass through Jnana Bharathi campus. Mysore Road was closed to traffic from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Mr. Malaghatti said.

As the water from the Madivala tank continued to overflow, the traffic on Hosur Road was affected for the third consecutive day.

The traffic situation, which was near normal in the morning, worsened towards the evening as the water discharge from the tank increased following heavy rain.

The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) used pneumatic concrete drillers to cut the road medians near Roopena Agrahara on Hosur Road to facilitate smooth flow of water off the road.

Commissioner of Police Ajai Kumar Singh, accompanied by other senior police and BDA officials, inspected Hosur Road. The officials spent nearly one hour there, discussing improvement of roads and drains.

Hundreds of people lined up across Hosur Road were seen seeking lift from those moving in cars and other vehicles as they could not find any mode of transportation, including the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses.

The traffic police did their best to ensure free flow of traffic. Though it was raining heavily, the policemen, led by senior officials, stood at important junctions and regulated traffic.

Vehicular movement was near normal when it was raining. Once the downpour stopped, there were traffic jams on several roads following a rush of vehicles. Traffic snarls were reported from J.C. Road, Lalbagh Road, Old Madras Road, Kengal Hanumanthiya Road, and Bellary Road.