The price of development

The price of development
Thursday, May 14, 2009, 12:00 [IST]

...is chaos in the short run. This appears to be the motto for the city agencies like the BBMP and BMRCL, which are both embarking on a flurry of projects, without co-ordinating with other agencies, writes Sandeep Moudgal.


While K R Circle has seen a flurry of infrastructure activities by the BBMP to ease the traffic congestion, it may well add more to its woes than smoothen it. And this without inputs from the Traffic Police!

“It seems that the traffic police were not even consulted when the rotary was built on K R Circle,” an informed source told Deccan Herald.

According to sources, the BBMP had built the rotary by outsourcing works which is a normal procedure of functioning by the agency. When questioned by traffic officials, the BBMP reportedly refused to divulge the name of the contractor who built it. Traffic officials were tight lipped on the issue and only said that they will gauge the situation after the completion of the entire projects in the area.

On the developments in the area, sources said that the BBMP activities were taken up based on their own estimates of traffic flow on the road and the rotary was not a “intuitive” decision taken by the Palike.

“In most normal cases of traffic management, one moves from an unmanned signal and junction to a rotary, a signal and then onto a grade separator to ease the vehicular movement. Here it seems the city agency has moved the other way round,” said a traffic expert.

Another traffic expert stated that the underpass on K R Junction might shrink the width of the road that runs from Dr Ambedkar Veedhi to Nrupathunga Road and hamper traffic flow. However, BBMP officials state that the rotary will definitely not choke the traffic movement and the work was carried out after careful consideration.

Last month, the Palike Commissioner, Dr Subramanya had told this newspaper that the rotary was big enough to carry as much as 9,000 motor vehicles while the expected movement is in the range of 4,000 vehicles.

Experts suggest that attempts to ease traffic needs to take into confidence all city agencies that are involved in the development of Bangalore. “There can be a definite coordinated development if the plans are discussed with all the agencies involved,”said officials involved in traffic management.

The proposal was to provide pedestrian underpasses to all roads touching the major circles. With work in progress on the underpass at Maharani’s junction, and on yet another vehicular underpass connecting Dr Ambedkar Veedhi with Nrupathunga Road, Bangaloreans are likely to be put to much inconvenience. And this, without taking into account the Namma Metro line being laid below the underpasses along K R Circle!