BBMP official shows the way to address traffic woes
BBMP official shows the way to address traffic woes
Ranganna T.S.
Encroachments cleared on H. Siddaiah Road
MUCH-NEEDED RELIEF: A view of the H. Siddaiah Road between Urvashi theatre junction and Lalbagh Road junction in Bangalore.
BANGALORE: Movement of vehicles in Bangalore city continues to be chaotic. It moves at a snail’s pace on many busy roads.
During peak hours, traffic jams create a situation in which the patience of road users is severely tested as they are forced to inch along. In summer, they also have to endure the scorching sun.
The situation is especially bad in the old Bangalore areas.
Narrow roads
While the roads in these places are narrow, the encroachment of footpaths by shops and establishments adds to the congestion.
On roads such as New BEL Road and Sanjay Nagar main road, and areas such as Kalasi Palyam, Broadway, Chamarajapet near the Mysore Road flyover and around Russel Market in the civil area, traders can be seen selling their wares almost in the middle of the road and at crossroads.
There is little space for vehicular movement in these parts.
Further, due to the unauthorised parking of vehicles on footpaths, pedestrians are forced to walk on the roads, putting themselves in grave danger.
The shop owners seem to be absolutely blind to the hardships of drivers and pedestrians. Drivers also have to manoeuvre their way through the many pushcarts and mobile eateries on the roads.
A senior official in the Bangalore Bruhat Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has showed the way to solve the problem. His scheme was successfully experimented on a busy stretch of H. Siddaiah Road between Lalbagh Road and Kengal Hanumanthayya Road, where encroachments have been cleared. The road, which starts from J.C. Road, stretches beyond Wilson Garden.
Even the footpaths have been cleared to great extent, to the relief of pedestrians.
Disuse
The official said that this stretch had been almost in disuse because most of it was occupied by several shops engaged in the sale of old automobile spare parts , some of which were right in the middle of the road.
Any attempt at clearing the road by either the Bangalore Bruhat Mahanagara Palike or the traffic police used to be met with resistance.
The Karnataka High Court had been requesting the State Government to provide accommodation to start a Bangalore Mediation Centre for clearing pending cases.
The Public Words Department, therefore, bought a three-floor building on Siddaiah Road owned by the BBMP and handed it over to the High Court so it could launch the State’s first-ever mediation centre.
Convincing
The traffic police did the job of convincing the traders to cooperate by allowing the clearing of the automobile spare parts shops, to which they readily agreed. They were told that such a centre would be highly beneficial to the people and that it would also introduce some beauty into the area.
The BBMP official is of the view that government offices of this size could be shifted from busy centres to such roads facing similar problems, as this would contribute to an orderly flow of traffic.
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