3-hour traffic snarl near airport

3-hour traffic snarl near airport
The Times of India

Bangalore: At least a dozen passengers missed their flight on Tuesday after they were caught in traffic that piled up for several kilometres on Airport Road and surrounding areas following the accident opposite HAL Helicopter Division on Tuesday.
Staffers returning from offices, schoolchildren and even ambulances were stranded for nearly three hours.
Trouble began after the BMTC Volvo fatally knocked down two. Angry mob torched vehicles and brought traffic to a halt on the busy stretch. Within minutes, traffic piled up beyond Marathalli, on the Ring Road and Varthur Road. The Kodihalli junction was clogged and traffic piled up on Airport Road till Trinity Circle, Indiranagar 100 Feet Road, Koramangala intermediate Ring Road, Suranjandas Road, JB Nagar Main Road, New Thippasandra Road and Murugeshpalya Main Road.
Four-wheelers made a beeline for the narrow by-lanes further congesting area around Airport Road. Police diverted traffic onto other arterial roads like Old Madras Road. BMTC buses were not allowed in the vicinity as a precautionary measure.
Rumours were rife that the violence had spread to neighbouring areas and many staffers stayed back in office. While newspaper offices were flooded with calls from anxious people to know about the accident, SMSes, indicating 20 people were killed, added to the confusion.
Many passengers of Indian Airlines and other private airlines missed their flight. Sources added that mainly passengers to Mumbai were affected.
Average of 15 accidents here
The point where the BMTC Volvo ploughed into the bus stop near HAL’s Helicopter Division has been an accidentprone spot. On an average, at least 15 major accidents are reported every week on the stretch from Airport Junction to the Helicopter Division, HAL employees claim.
“Vehicles moving towards Marathalli and those coming towards Airport Road criss-cross each other at great speed at the Helicopter Division, where the road divider ends. Overspeeding and judgmental errors cause accidents,” HAL employee Ramesh G said. Majority of the accidents occur around 7 am, 3 pm and 11 pm — when HAL work shift changes. Recently, a speeding garbage truck rammed into five four-wheelers and half-a-dozen two-wheelers on the stretch after the driver lost control of the vehicle.
Taking note of the frequent accidents, HAL management recently issued an advisory note to all the employees asking them not to wait on the busy main road for their route buses, but it was adhered to by the latter. “Too many factory buses move out of the parking lot adjacent to Helicopter Division every day, it’s easier to spot the route bus if we stand on the main road,” another worker explained, before adding: “But never imagined a Volvo could run over us.” Enraged by the accident, the employees staged a rasta-roko demanding the police to depute traffic personnel in the area during shift changes, put up speed-breakers and book overspeeding motorists.
HAL employees donate blood
Soon after the news about the accident spread, many employees rushed to the HAL Hospital to donate blood to the injured. “As I was walking out of the factory, someone told me about the accident and the injured needed blood. I rushed to HAL Hospital to donate. There were other coworkers there waiting to help,” employee Krishnakumar said.