Rain, security arrangements play havoc with City traffic

Rain, security arrangements play havoc with City traffic
DH News Service, Bangalore:


‘Pathetic’, ‘disgusting’, ‘awful’... all these and more were uttered by hapless Bangaloreans who were caught in a heavy traffic jam on Raj Bhavan Road late Thursday evening in Bangalore.

Flooding of water at Shivananda Circle due to rainfall led to traffic congestion not only in Seshadripuram but also in many surrounding areas. The presence of a large number of policemen near Raj Bhavan to make security preparations ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit on Friday, caused further chaos. The PM is scheduled to have his lunch at Raj Bhavan.

People were seen putting up huge welcome banners near Raj Bhavan. With too many police vans deployed on Raj Bhavan road, there was hardly any space for other road users.

Cascading effect

This had a cascading effect on Mahatma Gandhi Road, Hudson Circle, Commercial Street, Town Hall, Cubbon Road, Queen’s Road, N R Road and Kasturba Road where the movement of traffic literally came to a halt for some time between 6 to 8 pm. Luckily, it did not rain during this time.

“Namma city halagi hogide. Yenu madabeku?”(our city is in a mess. What should we do?), mourned Ajith Srinivas, an onlooker at Raj Bhavan Road. Motorists and pedestrians had a hellish experience as they struggled to get rid of the jam and reach their destinations. Many were seen calling their near and dear ones over cell phone, either to pour out their grievances or just to have a chat.

Senior citizen Merian was one of those. Holding the steering wheel of her car, she was heard to be saying loudly, “VIPs are special human beings! We are poor people who undergo all this because of them”.

The traffic police too looked helpless. They had switched off traffic signal lights. But that did not help much in regulating the vehicular movement or easing the congestion.

Reacting to the situation, an official of the Traffic Police (West) said: “The traffic police swung into action and deployed additional traffic wardens and constables to manage the traffic. Heavy rainfall during the peak hour resulted in traffic jams at several junctions. There was heavy rush of vehicles due to water-logging and rain water that flowed on roads. It’s common when many vehicles suddenly come on roads. But, luckily no accident has taken place. The police were hard put for nearly two hours to ensure smooth traffic flow.”