Traffic Woes: BBMP Chief, Civic Agencies Went On Night Inspection

Heads of BBMP, BWSSB, Bescom, BMTC, Bengaluru police and other agencies went on an inspection of different areas on Tuesday night to come out with short-term and long-term solutions to decongest traffic in the city. With CM Basavaraj Bommai directing officials to identify and clear 10 big bottlenecks, BBMP Administrator Rakesh Singh, BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath, and others went around the city.
Girinath on Wednesday said, Of the 10 bottlenecks, six have been identified. The team visited Goraguntepalya Junction, Hebbal, KR Puram, Iblur Junction, Central Silk Board and Sarakki. As a short-term solution, a decision was taken to build skywalks, shift bus stops and shorten medians. With these, we can bring down traffic congestion by about 15 per cent. At Goraguntepalya, we noticed that around 150 buses pass the junction every hour. As most buses stop here, the traffic gets blocked.
This stretch connects 20 districts with the city. We are contemplating diverting KSRTC and private buses at the Peenya terminal, he said. Girinath said the BBMP has entered into an agreement with an agency to fix potholes at Rs 598 per sqm. In the Palike limits, on an average each crater measures around 2.5 sqm. Roughly, Rs 1,200 will be spent on each pothole, he said, maintaining that BBMP has fixed 16,000 potholes.
It will be presented before the court, he added. In 54 places, roads have been damaged badly and they have to be asphalted completely, he said. On Mantri Developers failing to pay a property tax of Rs 28 crore for Mantri Mall, he said, In such cases, instead of attaching properties, we will attach their bank accounts with the Palike.