Did you know that the border areas of HSR Layout are managed by traffic cops from Electronic City? We are talking about the Somasundrapalya Main Road junction and 5th Main junction of HSR Layout.
That’s a 10 kilometre distance from HSR Layout that the cops are being put in charge. The problem is shortage of staff. The remedy? They hop from one junction to the other to ease the traffic flow during peak hours. We spotted them at the 5th Main-MG Palya junction between 6.30pm-8.30pm.
When we pressed them to also look at the jam at the MG Palya-HSR Layout junction, the cops said that they are short of staff, and they would rather tackle the bigger bottlenecks of Somasundrapalya Main Road and 5th Main junction near Salarpuria apartments. In addition, they said that the narrow stretch of road that meets MG Palya Road is the biggest problem. “Even a single four wheeler cannot take a U-turn here without obstructing traffic for a long time. The problem is with the curvature and width of the road itself,” said one cop manning the 5th Main junction.
Here is how they were seen managing the traffic last night. Their biggest complaint is that the users are always in a hurry and don’t listen to them on many occasions. “The tanker drivers are the biggest culprits. One person died on 27th Main Road in Sector 1 last week because of one such person. They drive fast even on roads that demand slow-moving traffic.”
JURISDICTIONAL CHAOS
While all the sectors of HSR Layout are managed by the crime branch of HSR Layout in a clear-cut fashion, the traffic police, however, had a stranger problem earlier. Sectors 6 & 7 were managed by the Madiwala cops. Later, it was streamlined to include all the sectors of HSR Layout. Similarly, the Bandepalya Police Station is in Sector 3 of HSR Layout, as they did not find a convenient place in their own jurisdiction, or so they claim. Similarly, the entire stretch of MG Palya Road, from Somasundrapalya Road junction to Hosur Road junction is managed by the Electronic City traffic cops, while Iblur is managed by the HSR cops.
