Traffic snarls draw HC ire

Traffic snarls draw HC ire
DH News Service, Bangalore:
The High Court has directed the State Government to submit a report on tackling traffic snarls due to political rallies within a week.



Hearing a long pending petition by A V Amaranathan and others who have moved the High Court seeking a direction to ban such rallies, the division bench comprising Justice S R Bannurmath and Justice Venugopal Gowda came down heavily on the government for the inconvenience caused to the public.

During the hearing the division bench criticised the government for not planning to address such bundhs and rallies and called for a long term solution in this regard. “You are working without a vision. What were you doing all these years? Except on a few occasions like the visits of president, prime minister or any dignitaries you don’t even inform the public about traffic being blocked. If you inform in advance they will take measures to avoid traffic congestion,” the bench said.

New laws

The bench sought to know about the steps being taken to avoid inconvenience in future. Udaya Holla, the advocate general, said that rules were being framed to handle such processions and bundhs under 31 ‘O’ of the Karnataka Police Act.

But the division bench said that there was no need to formulate any new laws. “Look into the Police Act and you will find a solution. It should not be particularly in Bangalore, it should be extended throughout the State.”
When the State submitted that several places have been identified for bundhs and rallies in the City including the freedom park, the division bench pointed out that no work had progressed at the freedom park for the past two years and questioned about the parking space for the vehicles used for rallies, that in turn affected traffic.
When the State submitted that the government was considering denying permission for such programmes during peak hour, the division bench questioned: “When is the non-peak hour in the City?”