By Qamar ZJ
Finally, after much push and pull, the Minsk Square traffic pile-up issue due to a projecting traffic island has been resolved by the folks at Bangalore Metro. The work that began a month ago has now been fully completed, thanks to citizen’s pressure.
Built in 2014, the traffic island on Cubbon Road has been a sore point for far too long. With increasing vehicle density, it had become worse. While the citizens observed the anomaly in 2017, they did not know whom to approach to resolve the issue. Last year, Citizens 4 Citizens (C4C) found that the problem can only be rectified by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL). “Then BMRCL MD turned down our request on the grounds that there was a High Speed Pier underneath the projection, even though we highlighted that this Peer was not being used, and there was no plan on the table to use it,” recalls Rajkumar Dugar of C4C.
However, the citizens urged the then DCP Traffic (East) to shift the new traffic kiosk away from the projection. In March this year, C4C highlighted the issue with City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant, Joint Commissioner (traffic) Dr Ravikanthe Gowda and ACP Traffic (Central) Satish. Soon, the traffic police asked the BMRCL to remove the projection. Sources say that BMRCL initially resisted the idea, but eventually the traffic police and the citizens prevailed when C4C met the newly appointed MD of BMRCL, Anjum Parwez. Says Dugar: “He agreed to look into the matter, and soon we noticed that with our inputs and pictures, we were able to convince the officials to look at the situation with an open mind and worked hard towards a solution.”
On August 26, a video taken from a nearby high-rise clearly showed how the projection created a bottleneck and traffic was literally squeezing through on Cubbon Road. “When we followed up, Mr Anjum Parwez assured us that he will ensure a solution soon,” says Dugar. “The first real on-ground sign of a solution was when we saw lines marked (for cutting) on the projection on September 15. Finally, on Dec 21, 2021, BMRCL has fully delivered on its assurance to remove this projection, and built a suitable road surface over the space occupied by it, thus facilitating smooth flow of traffic on this busy road.”
It was a big relief for the residents fighting for its removal. “At any junction, the aim should be to clear maximum possible vehicles in the given window of green signal. At this junction, not only was the projection resulting in reduced clearance of vehicles, there were many near-misses due to cross-movement of vehicles while moving through the bottleneck,” says Ajay Tandon of C4C.
Other concerns
Another issue raised by C4C with the city traffic police met with success as well. The Mehkri Circle Underpass sported loose metal gratings and an uneven road surface. Within a fortnight of highlighting their concern, the metal gratings were replaced with strong steel rails and fresh tarring, resulting in smooth flow of traffic. The other concerns that are yet to be fixed by the cops include Palace Cross Road – Sankey Road Junction; Old High Grounds Junction, and Udaya TV Junction near Cantonment Railway Station. C4C has also asked the authorities to turn Bengaluru into India’s First Low-Honking City.
