The Bengaluru traffic condition ?

An insight into the traffic jams in Bangalore

I hail from a small town in Manipur which lies in the northeast part of India. Manipur is a beautiful state with a valley that is surrounded by hills on all sides. However, the infrastructure put into the construction of the roads in this state is incomparable with those in other metropolitan cities and this is further proved by the poor condition of roads in National Highways and in the hills connecting several districts. I used to take a bus to school or a bike to tuitions and I could easily cover approximately 40 km in an hour. Traffic jams were a rare sight, and if traffic did happen, it just took an extra 15 mins. The capital city, Imphal, has a flyover extending only 2 km. So, when I came here in Bangalore, my experiences have been changed.

Recently, I visited my sister who stayed at Marathahalli which is around 35-36 km from my place. That day, I finally realized what it meant being stuck in a traffic jam. Even though the condition of roads in Bangalore is tenfold better than the ones in Imphal, it took me approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes to reach her place. Overall, it was an unpleasant experience but it is one which people face daily in big cities.

Traffic jam and gridlock are common occurrences in metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore. The rush hour in Bangalore starts from morning 8:30 am to 10 am when people leave for schools, colleges and offices, and for the evening is between 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm when office hour is over. This rush hour usually causes gridlock at places like Malleshwaram, Basavagudi, Whitefield and Koramangala. Every weekend there is a heavy traffic on Mysore highway as Mysore is a getaway destination. I have been in Bangalore for nearly four years and I can only give my personal opinion on this matter even if this may not be the ultimate truth. One principal cause for the busy and hectic traffic in Bangalore could be the increasing growth in public transport which includes BMTC, KRSTC, auto and car services. The transportation services are vital in any situation, yet they come with their own consequences. Another possible reason could be families ranging from middle class to high class owning more than a single vehicle. This means people travelling to work on their personal vehicles instead of using the public transport system. This, in turn, causes more road congestion making it difficult to manage traffic jams. In addition to this, illegally parked vehicles at roadsides reduce the space of the road and hamper transport. Likewise, footpaths meant for pedestrians are occupied by hawkers and vendors and this disrupts and inconveniences the public transport. Finally, debris from construction sites, wastes dumped on roadsides and the ongoing metro construction contributes to the bad transit system across roads in Bangalore.

Growing population and increase in vehicles only mean a growing and increasing traffic jam problem across several cities. We cannot stop it but we can only attempt to reduce this growing trend. The general public should develop a sense of responsibility, making use of public transport. The traffic police officers can impose heavy fine on the defaulters who park vehicles illegally. The government can also discourage owning of more than one vehicle by imposing heavy tax on subsequent purchases. It is also crucial to have an efficient and perfect

design of the road junctions and traffic signals. Moreover, people should follow the traffic rules and regulations for the smooth functioning. The government ought to maintain a strict regulation in issuing driver’s licence and prohibit illegal and underage driving. Another way is educating the general media through advertisement of many ways. We can only hope the public and the concerned government go hand in hand in reducing this problem.