JOIN USCitizens fume as Amit Shah visit jams Bengaluru roads
City traffic was a picture of chaos on Saturday as police placed curbs to facilitate the movement of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Ambulances were found stuck in the traffic jam that stretched several kilometres, turning the weekend commute into a hell.
Indigo had to postpone some flights scheduled for 12.55 pm to 3.25 pm as many passengers failed to reach the airport on time. As part of the security arrangement, police provided zero-traffic corridors to Shah wherever he went.
The zero traffic started with Ballari Road, which links the city to the Kempegowda International Airport, and spread to the central business district and South Bengaluru.
Since Shah enjoys ‘Z+ security’, his convoy included the Black Cat commandos. More than 35 security vehicles, including two ambulances, escorted the minister.
A few changes in Shah’s itinerary resulted in unnecessary traffic snarls, forcing motorists to spend almost an hour to cover just 100 metres. All roads leading to Shah’s place of stay were blocked. Many motorists lost patience.
Sharath V, a resident of Basavanagudi, said: “I was on my way to MG Road. There was slow traffic until Sajjan Rao Circle around 4 pm. Thereafter, police blocked all the roads at Minerva Circle. I was stuck there for about 25 minutes only to find bumper-to-bumper traffic later.”
Shah arrived at the Pejawar Seer Brindavan at Vidyapeeta after attending an event at Palace Grounds. He then inaugurated the office of Bangalore South parliamentarian, L S Tejasvi Surya.
Roads in HAL, Basaveshwara Circle, Raj Bhavan, Nandidurg Road, Jayamahal Road, Majestic, KR Market, Nrupathunga Road, Ballari Road, JC Road, Hudson Circle and many other places witnessed traffic jams.
“Dear Mr. AmitShah please take stock of the Road Blocks, traffic jams caused due to your visit to Bangalore today. Next time make sure you visit early Morning or late night. Please don’t visit in peak hours & cause traffic jams & inconvenience to people (sic),” @anoop_100 tweeted.
Raj, another user, criticised those opposing the protests against the CAA. “Traffic chaos for cricket matches and VVIP movement is perfectly OK in #Bengaluru. But traffic jams as a result of democratic protests is anathema and illegal. Excellent logic!” he tweeted from trilobite_1970.
Nevertheless, city police chief Bhaskar Rao tweeted: “Million thanks to citizens of Bengaluru for cooperating with the police for roadblocks today. Inconvenience deeply regretted.”