The slow pace

Nightmare returns

Everytime a cricket match happens in the City, the traffic goes out of hand and sends the commuters as well as cricket-lovers into a tizzy.

The Wednesday’s match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) brought with it innumerable problems on the road especially for those who were passing through the Central Business District (CBD). The handful of traffic police personnel deputed near the stadium struggled to manage the traffic which got worse by the hour. It was clearly a mismanagement of traffic flow.

    Inside the stadium, the story was as depressing as RCB played true to its now familiar script of losing without showing any stomach for a fight.

The tickets to the match were sold out a week in advance and the stadium was full to capacity. Most people who came for the match said that despite leaving home almost two hours prior to the match, they reached late. Blame it on the bad traffic and lack of parking in and around the stadium.

Most people said that they had to reach the IPL parking areas in advance to find space  and after they got one, walking up to the stadium, negotiating through the Tender SURE roads was another nightmare.

   Snehal, a professional working in Koramangala, was looking forward to the match eagerly but thanks to the chaotic traffic, she reached late. “The road leading to the stadium was blocked and the traffic wouldn’t move. The cab driver had a difficult time reaching the stadium,” she stated.

Others like Ashwini and her mother Nanda Umesh had to park their car in Shivajinagar and walk up to the stadium. “We had to walk through dark stretches to get to where we had parked our car after the match. There is no safety or security for women returning after an IPL match,” shared Nanda. 

Some expatriates who had come for the match expressed their concern about the chaotic traffic although they said that they love the IPL matches. David and Brian, both from the US have flown into the City for a week on work. “We would like to call the traffic here as organised chaos. It is so mismanaged and you have people driving in all directions. It took us more than an hour to reach the match venue,” said David.

    Brian and Kiran Narayan, David’s colleagues pitched in, “The cars wouldn’t move at all. We’ve heard so much about the traffic in Bengaluru and now we’ve got to experience it first hand.”

    Matt is also from the US and is an auditor with Ingersoll Randand. He observed that IPL is a lot like baseball back in their country. “Back home, baseball matches are like a family outing but there food and beverages get all the prominence. However, here in India people are more into the sport,” he said.

    Some others like Prabha, Padma, Rohini and Jayashree didn’t seem to mind the traffic. They said in one voice that they love the IPL format of cricket. Padma, a dance teacher, said, “IPL is a carnival of sorts and I didn’t want to miss the carnival. I never watch cricket but this format is truly entertaining.”

   Prabha, a Chennai Super Kings supporter, said that she actively played cricket in her school and college days. “I always prefer to watch and play cricket in its purest form
but I must say that IPL has brought a lot of life into the game,” she said.

For many cricket-lovers, getting back home after the match is a hassle. Jyothi, a lawyer, her husband RN Jayanth and their daughter are regulars to all IPL matches but they said that they always have to book a taxi in

advance. “There are no taxis available with either Ola or TaxiForSure after the match. We usually have a tough time getting a cab,” summed up Jyothi and Jayanth.