DRAINED-OUT COMMUTERS

DRAINED-OUT COMMUTERS
Traffic comes to a grinding halt for hours on Bannerghatta Road due to works on a storm water drain; police divert traffic, which leaves commuters confused in the absence of signboards
SHASHWATHI BHANUKUMAR


The works on a storm water drain had ‘kicked up a storm’ on Bannerghatta Road as well as in Panduranganagar, near IIM-B, on Wednesday. The BBMP workers dug up a stretch of the Bannerghatta Road, holding up traffic from 7.30 in the morning.
TRAFFIC DIVERSION
The BBMP, which has taken up drain works, has also been diverting the traffic originating from JP Nagar. “The BBMP told us the work will begin on Monday, but then it started only today. We were informed yesterday but the JP Nagar traffic police took some time as they did not know,” said Ravi Kumar, the traffic sub-inspector, Bilekalli traffic police station.
The situation was brought under control by evening, he said.
TRAFFIC INCONVENIENCE
Commuters had a tough time in the morning and the afternoon as people coming from the Meenakshi temple side and heading towards the Shoppers Stop had to take a deviation. They had to take a diversion towards Panduranganagar and proceed towards Dalmia Circle or BTM Layout.
“There are no policemen to regulate traffic here,” said Ramesh S, a commuter proceeding to Jayanagar. Suresh R, an auto driver, said, “There isn’t enough space for all vehicle to pass through this narrow stretch.”
FORTNIGHT’S WORK
“The work will be completed in 10 to 15 days. We do not want residents to suffer again this monsoon,” said Muniraju, BBMP engineer in charge of the storm water drain works.
The reason why the work is getting delayed is due to shifting of utilities. “We need one day to shift the water pipe. It’s not easy to move it,” said Shashidhar, BWSSB engineer.
WATER SUPPLY HIT
When the BWSSB starts shifting the water pipe, water supply will be affected. It will be hit for eight hours and the areas likely to be affected are the first and second phases of JP Nagar and BTM Layout, said Shashidhar.
INPUTS FROM MEDINI RAI ‘SIGNS’ OF CONFUSION
Said Shrinidhi Rai, a resident of Hulimavu, about her woes, “I was shocked to see the diversion. But when I went ahead, there were no signboards to guide me further. I hope the BBMP will fix signboards at the earliest.”
Balaji Vijaykumar, a resident of Hulimavu who travels to Marathalli every day, said, “There was a notification in the newspapers last week that the BBMP would begin work on Monday. However, we realised the work began only today and there was no notification or public announcement on the change of date. We were also not informed about how long the work would last.”
Kripali, a resident of Vijaya Bank Layout, said, “The alternative route is not meant for fourwheelers and it gets congested. As the alternative road does not have signboards, we tend to lose our way.”
NET WOES
This morning, when I started out for my walk, my world looked pretty normal. But when I returned half an hour later I could not recognise my road as it was packed with vehicles of all kinds honking away impatiently. It seemed as though some kind of traffic tsunami had moved Bannerghatta Road to our doorstep, crushing the three lanes in between... As of this minute, it seems that about a hundredth of Bengaluru vehicles are right outside my house. There is no one to tell them where to turn and how to go. Whoever had the bright idea to divert traffic through our layout did not seem to have thought of the fact that beyond our road, these vehicles would have to use a series of roads barely about 15 ft in breadth before they can reach the next main road.
Usha Vaidyanathan, a resident of
Panduranganagar, on her blog