Auto strike fuels logjam in City

Auto strike fuels logjam in City
Deccan Herald

Office-goers on Monday morning were stuck in traffic jams longer than usual, thanks to a snap strike by autorickshaw drivers and a rally by members of the Republican Party of India (RPI), which also caught the traffic police department off guard.

Office-goers on Monday morning were stuck in traffic jams longer than usual, thanks to a snap strike by autorickshaw drivers and a rally by members of the Republican Party of India (RPI), which also caught the traffic police department off guard.

All roads leading to the City centre were choked, with traffic inching forwards for more than half-an-hour from one junction to the next.

At around 11 am, hundreds of autorickshaw drivers staged a protest in front of a gas station on Residency Road, irked by “lack of co-operation” from employees of the petrol bunk who took a long time to fill their autorickshaws with gas.


This resulted in autorickshaws lining up in three long rows near the gas station and blocking the flow of traffic on the narrow Residency Road.

As a result, the entire Richmond Road and Hosur Road got blocked, which had a cascading effect on roads leading up to Double Road and Audugodi junctions. People could not enter M G Road to move further, nor get out of these roads.

Police helpless

The traffic police at these junctions watched helplessly as frustrated vehicle users started moving in all directions, completely out of sync with traffic signal lights. Though the confusion at the gas station was solved by about 11:45 am, vehicle users could not breathe a sigh of relief, as there were more gridlocks in store.

The RPI rally from Balekundri Circle to Town Hall caused another traffic jam even as police personnel were grappling with the traffic snarls on the roads leading to Queen’s circle. Traffic flow was restored to normalcy only after 12 noon.

Stating that both incidents were sudden, M A Saleem, DCP Traffic (East), said that at such times the department required some time to mobilise staff to manage traffic.

“Four officials with traffic constables were rushed to the gas station junction, but it required time for us to gather these forces, which is when the traffic went berserk. Shortage in supply of gas has been a problem for sometime now, and the department has spoken to oil companies to increase the number of gas stations in Bangalore, so that there is an equal distribution of autos to all stations,” he said.

The Police Department wasdoing its best to notify the public about traffic blocks well in advance most of the time, DCP Saleem added.