The Agara Lake Protection and Management Society (ALPMS) has written to the authorities to shift the Road Transport Office (RTO) checks that happen on Agara Lake Service Road during the early mornings. Citing traffic jams and inconvenience to lake visitors, they want this removed from this vicinity also because of the alleged antisocial activity of the drivers who assemble out there the previous night itself.
“The citizens are facing serious issues due to the RTO fitness checks (FC) at the Agara Lake Service Road,” says Kavitha Reddy, the Co-Founder and Vice President of the Agara Lake Protection and Management Society, a citizen group that is monitoring the Agara Lake in coordination with the Forest Department. “Any public transport vehicles like lorries, buses or tempo travellers have to be checked before registration and re-registration to undertake these fitness checks.”
The key concerns of the residents are as follows:
1. The vehicle drivers come as early as 10 pm the previous day and indulge in anti-social activities causing security issues for the lake. The vehicle drivers urinate in public, causing not only a health/cleanliness concern but also offend women visitors at the lake. Due to heavy vehicles, the entire Service Road is full of potholes and garbage thrown all around. During traffic hours, due to FC vehicles, there are numerous traffic jams. The parking space meant for lake visitors is occupied or blocked by the FC vehicles.
“I have been interacting with the traffic police officials, and they too feel that the RTO FC has to be moved out to a different place,” says Reddy. “Safety, security and wellbeing of the citizens is paramount, so we request the Joint Commissioner of Traffic and the Transport Department to intervene in this matter to ensure that the necessary steps are taken to relocate the RTO FC from the Agara Lake Service Road at the earliest.”
‘WILL MOVE IN MAY’
After many requests for over five months, the Transport Department has finally listened to the concerns of residents. They are promising to move in the next two months. “They have identified a couple of places and promised to shift out of here by the first week of May,” says Kavitha Reddy of ALPMS. “They understand our concerns for traffic congestion, safety and cleanliness and are in favour of this move too.”
For some evidence of the chaos right now, you can click HERE.
