AFTERMATH

AFTERMATH
Bangalore, DHNS:
It is a week since the HAL airport shut shop for commercial operations and among those who have breathed a sigh of relief are the commuters of the roads leading to it. But the happiest lot are the traffic cops.


The peak hours on the Airport Road was between 8.30 and 9.30 in the morning and 7.30 and 8.30 in the evening.

Though the statistics vary about the traffic, everyone agrees the traffic scenario has vastly improved along the road.

According to a top traffic official, “We had a tough time because of heavy traffic in the surrounding roads of the Airport between 7 am and 11 pm. Now, the traffic is next to nothing from the Airport Road until Marathahalli during the afternoon.”

The weekends are finally bringing in some relaxation for the cops.

“On Friday and during weekends, traffic during the previous week reduced between 50 per cent and 60 per cent. It is a pleasure working during that time.”

Vijay Kumar, an auto driver, is put off by the poor business due to the reduced crowd.

“I think there has been a 30 per cent reduction. I have lost my business but it is a change for the better for all those who use this road.”

His colleague Keshav Murthy feels the reduction is 40% and laments over the loss in business.

Software professional Pushpa Vijay is also happy because “I am saving a lot of time now. It used to take me about one-and-a half hours to reach my office but now it hardly takes me 45 minutes.”

Hanumanth Rao, a panipuri seller on the road, says: “The traffic is down by half. I have never seen such a drastic change in the traffic along this road for the last four years.”