Bengaluru: Traffic police, BBMP's battle plan to keep city flowing

After pre-monsoon showers threw life off gear in many city neighbourhoods, the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) has introduced preparatory measures for the forthcoming monsoon to prevent untoward incidents.

Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Dr M A Saleem told DH that the BTP is working closely with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to prepare for the onset of the monsoon season.

“We have made a list of 65 locations across the city where waterlogging is most likely to happen. We have submitted this list to the BBMP. They are working on solutions for each of these locations,” Saleem said.

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All traffic police officials posted on the roads will have raincoats and umbrellas, allowing them to attend to any traffic congestion hotspots immediately.

Saleem said two-wheeler riders in the city tend to gather on the roads underneath overbridges, particularly metro bridges and foot over-bridges. He said traffic police will be promptly deployed to these areas, especially when it starts raining, to disperse the crowd and ensure uninterrupted traffic flow.

Saleem added that the BTP has requested both the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) and the BBMP for pumps so that the traffic police can pump out water in underpasses that usually report waterlogging, such as the one in Kadubeesanahalli.

A senior BTP official noted that meetings with various stakeholders and officers are scheduled in the coming days to draw up plans to tackle division-specific issues and blackspots.

“We are aware of waterlogging spots because of the latest data, but we might have to make minor adjustments if anything has changed now. These issues are a combination of infrastructural and geographical conditions in each division that need to be addressed accordingly,” said the official.