JD(S) holds City to ransom

JD(S) holds City to ransom
By R Venkatesh, DH News Service, Bangalore:
It was a manic Monday on the Citys roads. It is a nightmare that will continue to haunt Bangaloreans.



Thousands of vehicles were piled up in a massive, gridlock in and around the Bangalore Palace Grounds with ripple effects being felt almost all over the City. Even till late in the night, vehicles were crawling.

The City’s veins and arteries were choked. Triggering this chaos was the JD(S) convention, the turnout for which caught the already stretched city traffic police completely offguard. Many used the choicest words to abuse the JD (S) especially Gowda and sons.

Struggling in this virtual sea of vehicles and humanity were ambulances, office-goers and scores of schoolchildren, their parents desperately waiting back home. “My five-year-old son has been stranded in his bus. I’ve been anxiously waiting for the vehicle although the school closed hours back. It is just not fair to hold us to ransom.”

this outburst by a mother, Preeti Sundarajan, summed up the mood. Many children weren’t home even after dark. Anil Jain, a resident of Chickpet and a parent called up Deccan Herald saying: “My son Samir Jain, a first standard student of Vidya Shilp is stranded in the traffic jam while travelling by the school bus. Using the driver’s cell phone, he calls me and complains that he wants to go attend nature’s call. There is no way, i can reach him.”
Bangalore North, Central and surrounding areas were the worst affected by the traffic pile-up. Thanks to the buildup, many air passengers headed for the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) in Devanahalli reportedly missed their flights, their well planned schedules going for a Yuvraj-like six. The unprecedented chaos thorougly exposed the traffic police department. It is bad enough that such political shows continue to be held within the City throwing normal life out of gear.

But Monday’s madness got out of hand thanks to the police decision to allow over 1,000 vehicles, including buses, into the City. With the deployment of police constables far from adequate, the stage was set for unimaginable chaos.

The scene only got uglier when the traffic was diverted. It was not just the main roads leading to the Palace Grounds. The ring roads, service roads and even many artillery roads were clogged. Many among the public legitimately lost their cool, venting their anger on hapless traffic constables.

Deccan Herald was witness to a pathetic scene near the CBI junction on Hebbal road, where a sub-inspector and a few constables were forced to bow their heads in shame, unable to respond to a flurry of angry questions. Anxious parents and teachers called up newspaper offices, wondering what was happening.

“Around 7:30 am, our children in the age group of 6-16 years left home and even after 8:30 pm, they haven't reached home. What is the plight of the kids... exams are on and they are not carrying food or water,” a teacher, Shylaja wanted to know.

A lame apology

After causing the havoc, the JD(S) tendered an apology. “Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy have appealed to the public to pardon us and the party,” said spokesperson Y S V Datta in a press release issued in the evening.
He claimed at least 3.5 lakh people turned up, but Intelligence sources put the figure at 1.4 lakhs.

"Our calculations went wrong. The traffic police had identified spaces for parking of the vehicles inside the Palace Grounds. More vehicles came to the convention than we expected. Hundreds of outstation vehicles were parked on side roads; this was the major reason for the traffic jam."

Shankar Bidari
Commissioner of Police,
Bangalore City.

From here to eternity

Even going by the City’s notorious traffic situation, it takes about an hour to navigate a distance of 8 kms. But on Monday, it was a never-ending road-trip. Some of our readers share their experience:

* Vidya Shilp school (near Hebbal) to Chickpet: 7 hours
* Cambridge layout to Hegde
Nagar: 6 hrs
* Cantonment Railway station to
Kempapura (near Hebbal flyover): nearly 5 hrs.
* Rajbhavan to Sadashivnagar via
Seshadripuram 1st Main Road:
4 hrs.
* BEL Road to Benson Town (traffic was diverted): 7 hrs.
* Tumkur Road to BEL circle: 4 hrs.
* Tannery Road to R T Nagar: 5 hrs.
* Coles Park to new air port: 7 hrs
* Many who boarded BMTC buses lost their patience and decided to walk.
* Outside Cauvery theatre, vehicles coming out after the matinee and 1st show added to the chaos.
* Magic boxes near Sadashivnagar and CBI circle showed up their inadequacies.
* In front of Doordarshan and Munireddy Palya there were many dramas.
* Not to mention, exit points to Mysore, Tumkur, Hosur, Hoskote highways was chaotic
The Chinese way
* Even at the Beijing Olympics stadium (inaugutaion and closing) no vehicles were allowed near the venue; parking arrangements were made 5 kms away.