'Most wedding halls in Bengaluru lack parking facility'

Growth without a plan has led to chaos, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) P Harishekaran said, giving the example of 2000 marriage halls in the city without adequate traffic facility.

Speaking as a guest at the 30th Road Safety Week programme, he said lack of a comprehensive policy to govern traffic conditions in Bengaluru is taking the city towards a major crisis.

"Vehicle population has far surpassed the carrying capacity of the roads, which has led to spillover problem," he said, describing the problem of two-wheelers climbing the footpaths in the peak hours.

Stressing the need for better public transport, he said, Bengaluru needs 44,200 bus bays to improve vehicle flow on roads. "Institutional and evidence-based studies are required to understand traffic flow and area-specific problems," he said.

Transport Minister D C Thammanna said air pollution has made living in Bengaluru a difficult prospect but people were still stuck to the idea of owning vehicles.

"The number of cars in every household is going up with each family member seeking to own a vehicle though they don't have parking space. If we bring a rule to regulate ownership, we are likely to face opposition from the citizens. Instead, we are planning awareness campaigns at ward level," he said.

The minister said it was not right to blame bad roads alone for accidents as many accidents were taking place due to overspeeding and negligence. Many accidents are happening on newly laid roads with fine conditions. This shows that road users are as responsible as the state government in ensuring safety.

Transport Depart Principal Secretary B Basavaraju said the Supreme Court committee on road safety has set a target of bringing down road accidents by 10% every year. "Two government policies on united metropolitan transport authority and road safety authority will bring coordination between different departments for the better administration of the issues," he added.