Magic wanes, woes rise

Magic wanes, woes rise

The BDA junction underpass has thrown up a maze of one-ways

Vehicles have to take a roundabout route for turning right from Palace Cross Road into Chowdaiah Road

Bosky Khanna. Bangalore



The magic appears to have waned in less than a year's time. The magic-box underpass built at the BDA junction on Chowdaiah Road was in the eye of a huge protest by locals on Monday.
Residents of VS Raju Road and members of the Kumara Park West Residents' Welfare Association staged a protest demonstration in a park on Serpentine Road, near the underpass.
They alleged that there was no need for the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to construct the underpass connecting Palace Cross Road to VS Raju Road, making the service road on the VS Raju Road side of the underpass a one-way stretch.
The locals have been requesting the BBMP and traffic police officials to convert the service road into a two-way affair and avoid diverting traffic from the main road into the residential areas since May 2008, when the underpass was inaugurated.
However, neither the Palike nor the traffic police have moved a finger. The residents have now threatened to go on a dharna if their demands are not met.
In the face of the authorities' apathy, the locals have taken it upon themselves to lay bare the troubles being created by the underpass as well as come up with solutions for the same. They have charted out maps and proposed solutions to the BBMP and traffic police officials.
The locals are demanding that the 30-foot wide service road on the VS Raju Road side of the underpass be made a two-way lane.
Presently, the service lane is open only to vehicles coming from Palace Guttahalli. Heavy duty vehicles plying on this stretch have virtually reduced traffic movement to a crawl.
Besides, the airport-bound traffic coming from Palace Cross Road has to move through the underpass, enter VS Raju Road, take a right turn to Palace Guttahalli main road and finally take another right turn to enter Chowdaiah Road en route to Mekhri Circle and the airport.
The BBMP and traffic police have also made RV Layout road a one-way, adding to the chaos.