Namma Bengaluru’s traffic: Now, poll checkposts causing jams?

BENGALURU:  While Namma Bengaluru’s traffic seemed to have eased to an extent after a slew of measures were introduced by Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) MA Saleem a few months ago, it is back to square one in areas such as Hebbal, Hosur Road, Mysuru Road, K R Puram, Whitefield, Marathahalli and Kadubeesanahalli.

“I usually take around one hour to reach Koramangala from Marathalli. On Wednesday morning, it took me almost 1.5 hours to reach Koramangala. There was a huge traffic jam at Marathalli junction,” said Madan, an autorickshaw driver.

Among the junctions, where steps have been taken to ease congestion after Saleem took charge, commuters point out that Goraguntepalya, Sarakki, Kumaraswamy Layout, and Banashankari bus terminal are managed well by traffic policemen. However, the situation has not improved at Kadubeesanahalli, Silk Board, KR Puram, and Hebbal flyover.

Traffic on the Hebbal flyover is manageable. However, motorists proceeding towards Marathalli create confusion as they have to enter the service road, take the flyover, and then take a left turn. It would be better if some signages are put up so that motorists proceeding towards Marathalli keep left to enter the service road, Padmanabha, a regular commuter, said.

Saleem said that the traffic police have been working towards easing congestion with a special focus on entry and exit points of the city. There might be a slight increase in traffic, he said attributing it to over 100 checkposts across the city set up by the election authorities. Rains too slow down traffic in the city.

“As the model code of conduct is in place, vehicles are stopped randomly and checked. This is affecting the smooth flow of traffic. As some of our traffic cops are also involved in this duty, you cannot find all of them managing traffic,” Saleem said.