Bengaluru: Central parts of Bengaluru and highways leading into the city saw traffic gridlocks during BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s visit to the city.
Mysore Road and Peenya witnessed heavy traffic jams early on Sunday morning. Most affected were motorists using National Highway 7, as the traffic police had banned the movement of traffic between Mekhri Circle and the Cauvery Theatre junction, which is right next to the Bangalore Palace Grounds, where Modi’s rally was held.
The rally, though witnessed nearly 2.5 lakh people, did not cause major traffic congestions in the city. Traffic jams were reported around Mehkri Circle only during the rally. The police, however, could not stop rally attendees from leaving their two-wheelers and four-wheelers on the cross roads of Palace Orchards and Ramana Maharshi Park.
The traffic police allowed vehicles to reach Mehkri Circle from the TV Tower Road along Palace Grounds. As the road is narrow, and on certain stretches it is dug up for stalled widening work, the movement of vehicles was slow.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) B. Dayanand said that as it was a Sunday, traffic jams did not affect the people much. The jams cleared soon after the rally was over, he said. “There were reports of congestion at city entry points during morning hours and on roads around Mehkri Circle during noon.
But most of the gridlocks were cleared in the shortest possible time,” he said. On the brighter side, the Gujarat chief minister could fly into the venue in a helicopter as the city had clear skies, as against rainy weather on Saturday.
With this, another possible traffic jam between the HAL Airport and Mekhri Circle was avoided. The traffic police had earlier been told to shut the entire stretch as he was expected to reach the venue by road.
Traffic experts have been suggesting for long that VIPs should be made to use helicopters to avoid traffic jams in the city. “The government had proposed to build or network five helipads for the movement of VVIPs in the city.
But the project was shelved. This is the second time a VVIP is flying down to Palace Grounds for a rally. Last month, Congress President Sonia Gandhi too landed at the Palace Grounds in a chopper,” said a traffic expert.
