No comfy route to the skies?

No comfy route to the skies?
Monday April 14 2008 09:41 IST

Monica Jha
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BANGALORE: The National Highway 7 (NH-7), Bangalore to Bellary Road leading to the Bengaluru International Airport will see around 30,000 commuters everyday once the new airport is commissioned.

In the wake of expected heavy traffic on the Bellary Road till Devanahalli, this website’s newspaper found out how safe this road has been so far for the commuters.

The question on safety becomes even more crucial for passengers of international flights because most of these flights will arrive or depart in the night.

The road has witnessed at least 274 fatal and 1212 non-fatal road accidents from Mekhri Circle upto Devanahalli since 2005.

The number of cases registered at different Law and Order police stations, under which the different stretches of the road falls can not be ignored either.

Apart from one impersonation case, 13 robbery, three dacoity, seven extortion, five immoral trafficking, fifteen assault, five theft and four bag snatching cases occurred on this road have been registered at different police stations since 2005.

Eve-teasing and eunuch menace also have created problems. “Many dhabas and bars on this road have become crime centres. The commuters also become victims of different groups supported by land mafias.

Lack of illumination and absence of residential colonies nearby also make the road crime-prone,” a senior police official told this website’s newspaper.

DCP Traffic (West), Pandurang Rane said: “We are concentrating on this road now. The road is being widened into a six-lane road and the existing single-lane service road will be widened into two-lane.

Medians, barricades and eight traffic signals from Hebbal Flyover to the Airport will help bring the number of accidents down.”

Alternative route

One can take the Outer Ring Road and then the State Highway 104 through Banaswadi, Rammurthy Nagar, Hennur Cross and Baglur village to reach the Airport in order to avoid NH 7. NH 207 through Hoskote can also be taken.

These alternative routes are not only longer than NH7 route but also the condition of the roads is not as good as NH7. These routes also seem to be worse than NH-7,when it comes to safety, said some police sources.

On the condition of anonymity, a senior police official said: “Hennur is dacoity menace area. Do a google search with Hennur+police and you will be amazed to see the huge number of cases reported.

Many unnatural deaths and murder cases are registered at Mahadevapura police station. Also, the public in the area is volatile.”

Many cases of murder, kidnapping, robbery, house burglary, shop loot, chain snatching, asault for robbery and others are registered at Hennur police station.

Murder for loot and waylaying for robbery for a meager sum of Rs 400 to lakhs of rupees are common in the area. A case of theft of panels of solar heaters from 27 houses is also registered at Hennur police station.

Many cases of robbery by armed gangs and at knifepoint have been registered in the past year. A prostitution racket was busted in the area in 2006.

Twelve cases against a builder Joseph Chacko of cheating 70 NRIs of Rs 8 crore was registered in 2007. Two earthmovers and a BMTC bus (after a fatal road accident) were set ablaze.