Bengaluru: The season of political rallies and meetings is here and Bengalureans are suffering bigger traffic jams in the city.
On Friday morning, the residents of KR Puram, Ramamurthy Nagar, Tin Factory and surrounding areas had a tough time as a Congress public meeting at Ambedkar Stadium on Old Madras Road near ITI factory held up traffic.
The traffic congestion continued for over two hours despite the presence of hundreds of traffic policemen. A senior traffic police officer, who was at the spot, said, "We had made necessary arrangements, but the density of vehicles on Old Madras Road is high, and we cannot do much. We are diverting vehicles to other routes and the situation returned to normal in two hours. The other issue is that the supporters come in their vehicles and buses and park wherever they can, leading to congestion."
He said, “Some 60 buses carried supporters and we had accommodated them on the premises of ITI Colony. Yet, we had the traffic congestion. This cannot be avoided and we managed to clear traffic in a couple of hours."
Ms Revathi Selvam, a resident of Ramamurthy Nagar, said, "The traffic congestion has stretched up to Ramamurthy Nagar and we have been stuck here for over 40 minutes. Every time there is a public meeting at K.R. Puram, the entire area gets choked."
She said, "We see people getting down from BMTC buses and walking to their destination as traffic is just not moving. Officials should realise that the entire zone has high density of vehicles and they should not give permission to such meetings and rallies."
Mr Muniraju, a BMTC bus driver, who was stuck for more than 30 minutes near Tin Factory, said, "I really don't understand who gives permission for such public meetings in areas where there is heavy movement of vehicles. We don't know when the government will bring in a rule to ban such events within the city. The traffic police are trying to clear the congestion, but we cannot blame them, as they too are human.”
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