Flouting rules in broad daylight

Trucks and lorries, loaded with cargo from other states, which are allowed to ply in the City only between 10 pm and 7 am, stalk the Outer Ring Road (ORR), NICE Road, Hebbal, Tumkur Road, Silk Board to Jayanagar route, Marthahalli, Sarjapur Road signal and near HSR layout...beyond the deadline.

These huge trucks even stray into the heart of the City during peak hours. Though the police claim that they’re regulating the heavy vehicles, a spokesperson of the Lorry Drivers’ Association says huge sums of money change hands to allow lorries to stay on in the City for a little longer.

The IT and BPO crowd say they dread the very sight of huge trucks that drive at mindless speed.

The drivers often lose control over their vehicles and don’t maintain lane discipline whatsoever. Even those ferrying their children to school as early as eight in the morning are witness to these lorries blocking the roads with haphazard movement.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic and Safety) Praveen Sood claims the trucks and lorries stick by the stipulated timings and the police make sure they get off the ORR by 8 am. If they violate they are caught and booked. He says, “these heavy vehicles use the NICE Road more often and don’t mind paying a toll for it. They rarely stray into the City and even if they are spotted, their movement is restricted within the City and they’re fined for violation.”

But G V Narayanappa, secretary of the Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners and Agent Association, agrees that there are a lot of heavy vehicles that ply in the City till 10 am. “They move around in the City with the full consent of the cops. The cops are paid anything between Rs 100 to Rs 150 as bribe by each truck driver and Rs 5,000 by each lorry owner every month to come into the City,” says Narayanappa.

People say they dread the sight of these huge vehicles. They feel it’s ‘intimidating’ especially since they flout traffic rules with impunity. Tintu Krishna, a cost consultant with a project management company, rides to work. She says the route to K R Puram is always blocked in the morning till 9.30 am, thanks to huge trucks that are parked on the road side. “These trucks are either parked on the side or just drive parallel to you. Their entry and exit from the City must be more organised. Since I ride to office, I have to leave at least 20 minutes in advance to reach work on time just because these trucks are an obstruction,” said Tintu, who lives in Kalkere, near K R Puram.

Vineeth Kumar, an IT professional, either rides or drives to work. He points out that these trucks cause a lot of inconvenience, “They’re overloaded and hence drive very slowly on a speed track and park on the service road making it impossible for people to reach office on time. They cross the road randomly, thus violating basic traffic rules as well,” said Vineeth.

Even parents who rush to drop their children to school in the morning face a lot of problem because of the trucks. Ruby Afsha, technical lead with PWC Consulting Company, says she goes to drop her child to the play school every morning and notices huge trucks parked near Manyata Tech Park adding to the traffic congestion. “There are no bus stops near Manyata. These trucks stop wherever they want to and most often the driver is missing,” she wraps up.