Flyover fallout: Kumara Park stuck in traffic jam

Flyover fallout: Kumara Park stuck in traffic jam


Residents of V S Raju Road took to streets to protest against the diversion of traffic onto the narrow residential road, in Bangalore on Thursday.
Express News Service
First Published : 20 Feb 2009 03:54:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 20 Feb 2009 08:59:49 AM IST

BANGALORE: The flyover at the BDA junction might have done little to ease the traffic problems on Bellary road but what it has definitely done is give sleepless nights to residents of Kumara Park.

On Thursday, residents of the VS Raju Road and members of the Kumara Park West Residents' Welfare Association were out on the streets protesting the severe traffic congestion and the entry of heavy vehicles in the area.

"There is heavy traffic through the day as well as in the night.

We cannot step out of the house nor can we sleep at night because of this traffic," said Bharat, a resident.

Their problems began on May 22, 2008, when the flyover at the BDA junction opened. Heavy traffic from the Palace Cross Road as well as Sankey Road was diverted onto the narrow residential road -- VS Road. According to Deepak Shah, who lives on VS Raju Road, almost all vehicles travelling from Vasanth Nagar side towards Sadashivnagar, RT Nagar and Hebbal now travel on the road.

"It's impossible to cross the road, especially in the evenings. There are many elderly people in the area who face great difficulty in carrying out their daily chores," he said.

According to the residents, this chaos could have been avoided.

Ramakanth, President of Kumara Park, Resident Welfare said that the association had foreseen the problems that could arise out of the construction of the flyover and had suggested alternate locations for the flyover. "Though they had promised to consult the residents before building the flyover, they just went ahead with the project without any talks," he said.

Another resident, Maya Ratnam, says that the traffic density was more than one-and-a-half times of what is allowed for the road. "The road has turned into to a highway," she said. According to her, when they went to officials with their problems all they did was pass the buck.