Rain adds to magic box woes

Rain adds to magic box woes
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: This is one magic box that could have done with some realworld help. The BDA junction underpass — one of BBMP’s nine underpasses lined up to improve connectivity to the new Bengaluru International Airport — was inaugurated amid thunder-showers on Wednesday evening.
Barely an hour later, vehicles were seen negotiating the underpass in a slow crawl. Traffic had already piled up and there was not enough room for big vehicles to take the turn on the water-logged road.
A BMTC bus from the Cauvery junction direction prolonged the traffic snarl, after the driver failed to take a right turn through the underpass towards Palace Guttahalli. It took around half an hour for the policemen to ease the logjam.
According to BBMP, a delay in traffic diversions led to the “confusion’’. “Heavy rains were on as the underpass was being inaugurated. A lot of vehicles entered the wrong way, making it hard for vehicles to move ahead,’’ said Krishnareddy, chief engineer (major roads), BBMP.
Traffic near the Windsor Manor bridge had come to a near-halt before the underpass was inaugurated. The heavy rains added to the traffic snarl, even as officials and policemen stood in the rain, trying to man the traffic. Even with the traffic routing plan in place, commuters were seen halting in confusion over restricted entry and ban on u-turns at the underpass. While confusion over the routing plan was cited by officials as a possible reason for the chaotic beginning, the police had a different take on the issue.
K Ishwar Prasad, ACP (central) said the heavy rains and water-logging led to the traffic bottleneck.
Informal launch
Earlier in the evening, the underpass was inaugurated “informally’’ in the presence of government officials, including BBMP commissioner S Subramanya.
There could be teething troubles after the underpass is launched but the worries would be addressed in a day or two, assured BBMP engineers.
While the flyover reduced the evening traffic on Bellary Road towards Yelahanka and beyond, the underpass would also ease traffic congestion to a considerable extent, they claimed.
The BBMP took around 80 days to complete the Rs 2 crore underpass. With the traffic routing plan in full use for the next couple of days, initial traffic disruptions could be sorted out, according to the officials.