BENGALURU
Commuters face endless congestion during peak hours, residents urge swift tunnel expansion, seek traffic police presence for smoother movement.
Residents of Lingarajapuram, Kammanahalli, and Banaswadi have been appealing to the elected representatives and South Western Railway authorities to either add one more underpass or increase the width of the existing underpass at Banaswadi Railway Station. It has become a tough task for motorists to use the tunnel during peak hours.
They said the underpass under Banaswadi Railway Station connects Lingarajapuram, Kammanahalli, and other parts of the city and plays a vital role in easing local connectivity. This tunnel is a stormwater drain used as a road under the bridge and is very narrow for traffic. The feeder roads on both sides are also narrow and often jammed to the full because the Lingarajapuram and Maruthi Seva Nagar flyovers are not wide enough. So, commuters use this tunnel more frequently, resulting in traffic congestion. The passengers arriving to board or disembark from trains add to the huge traffic mess, said Murali Simhadri, president of Bengaluru Eshanya Mahavedike (BEM).
Stating that the single six-metre-wide tunnel is not enough to handle the traffic volume, Simhadri said that the BEM and residents coordinated with MLA K J George’s office and KRIDE to propose a double tunnel measuring 6 metres by 4 metres to accommodate traffic. The proposal was agreed in principle, but it is allegedly delayed due to a change of contractor. The congestion near the underpass has become a daily bottleneck during peak hours. The proposed rotary bridge at Maruthi Seva Nagar is also delayed. I appeal to the authorities to resolve these issues at the earliest, he added.
Expressing concern over the traffic snarls near the Banaswadi Railway Station, BEM organising secretary Muniraju Sriramalu said that volunteers have been struggling to regulate vehicular movement near the underpass. “I have also tried my best to mitigate traffic jams by manually regulating vehicles for a few hours. I appeal to the authorities to assign traffic police to manage the flow,” he said.
The BEM has written to the South Western Railway Divisional Manager, Saghyanagar MLA K J George, Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan, and Union Minister of State for Railways V Somanna urging expansion of the existing underpass or construction of a new one to ensure two-way traffic without hassles.
“This tunnel is actually a storm water drain used as a road under the bridge, and it’s too narrow for traffic,” said C Murali Simhadri, President, Bengaluru Eshanya Mahavedike (BEM)