Traffic sounds death knell for peace

Traffic sounds death knell for peace
R Jayaprakash & Prathima Nandakumar | TNN

Bangalore: Screeching tyres, deafening honks, zipping machines. This is the state of bylanes in the ‘purely residential zones’ contiguous with commercial hubs. Gone is the old world charm, a victim of exploding traffic.
Their only fault is that they fall in the backyard of towering commercial complexes, a blatant violation of zoning regulations.
Glaring examples of residential zones suffering under the onslaught of traffic are Rest House Road and Brunton Road in the central business district, Cambridge Road, CMH Road and hundreds of roads in Sadashivnagar, Malleswaram, Indiranagar, Koramangala, Jayanagar and Basavanagudi.
Rest House Road was truly a restful place once. Not anymore. “Cars are parked right in front of our gates despite the no-parking boards. Being close to M G Road and Brigade Road has taken its
toll on our locality. The one-side parking rule has made things better,’’ said resident Sonali Warrier.
Members of resident associations of Rest House Road and Rest House Crescent Road point out that the road was being used as thoroughfares by people trying to avoid traffic signals and this has made the stretch noisy and risky for pedestrians.
“It is like a house arrest for us as we can neither enter nor exit our locality. However, the traffic cops have given us a solution. We call their helplines when we find a car blocking our entrance. The vehicles are towed away. The authorities are now building an elevated pavement to discourage pavement parking or double parking,’’ said association member Leela Pramod.
The moot question is: Why is the BBMP permitting commercial buildings when there is no provision for basement parking?
The situation in other areas is no better. ‘No Parking’ signs on gates are not heeded. In some cases, residents have sought legal remedy. One such case was a hotel in Jayanagar, which was moved out by a court order.
Says M S Nagamani, a Jayanagar resident: “It was a great relief to us when the court ordered the hotel owner to shift out of the locality. We had a horrifying time with vehicles parked all along the road. Neither could we take out our vehicles nor could we walk around. Hundreds of vehicles used to swarm our street.’’
Lakhs of residents elsewhere are helpless too. The residents of CMH Road, Cambridge Road and 100 Feet Road have a tough time negotiating with the highspeed vehicles all over the area.
Says Mahendra Reddy, a resident of CMH Road: “The commuters use the bylanes and inroads to avoid traffic on the main road. It has become a habit for them. As a measure, we got permission from BMP and the traffic policen and erected steel girders and stone barricading to allow only LMVs to pass through. But this is not good enough as the number of LMVs has dramatically increased.’’
toiblr.reporter@timesgroup.com