Measures to reduce traffic congestion at 10 prominent spots

It includes synchronisation of traffic signals and removing obstacles

Ten prominent spots, including Hebbal, Mahadevapura Outer Ring Road, Silk Board Junction, and Whitefield Road, which witness huge traffic jams, will soon see measures being taken to decongest them following Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s directions. The measures would include synchronisation of traffic signals and removing of obstacles for smooth flow of traffic.

The Chief Minister, on Saturday, chaired a meeting to discuss traffic decongestion plans with officials of various agencies, including the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Urban Development, and the police. This follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the city recently, during which he announced that measures will be taken to improve connectivity in the capital and to make Bengaluru free from traffic jams

After a presentation on the traffic scenario of the city, Mr. Bommai directed officials to begin work on traffic signal synchronisation to maintain the traffic flow and decongest the major junctions, which is a major concern among motorists. Mr. Bommai also directed the city police commissioner to depute a senior police officer of the rank of DCP to supervise the progress of the projects at their jurisdictional level. He also earmarked ₹48 crore for the signal synchronisation.

Getting details of the condition of roads across the city, Mr. Bommai also directed BBMP officials to fill potholes and repair the block spots at the earliest . The roads connecting national highways (NH) should be have a free flow of traffic, he said, and asked the traffic police to work to improve the conditions of the roads connecting NHs and the city entry points. He also issued orders to take up immediate repair works at about 50 spots which witness flooding whenever it rains.

Among the other directions he has given are the installation of enforcement cameras at every strategic location, arterial , sub arterial and high density roads should be cleared of any sort of encroachments, and the police should enforce the rules to ensure the roads and footpaths should be encroachment free.

The Chief Minister also asked the officials of BBMP, BWSSB, BMRCL and Bescom to work in coordination under the overall supervision of the Additional Chief Secretaries of Urban Development and Home departments to formulate measures for easing traffic congestion in the city. DGP Praveen Sood was also asked to increase the strength of the traffic police personnel.