Bengaluru traffic near impossible to handle: Parameshwara

Home Minister G Parameshwara on Tuesday expressed helplessness with regard to regulating the burgeoning traffic in the city. 

Replying to a query by JD(S) member K Gopalaiah in the Assembly, Parameshwara said there were 3,200 traffic police personnel who were manning 61 lakh vehicles every day. There are 42 lakh two-wheelers, 12 lakh cars, 48,000 buses, 1.14 lakh lorries and 3.21 lakh other vehicles registered in the city.

Though all measures had been put in place like road widening, construction of underpasses and flyovers, the department is finding it very difficult to regulate the traffic. This was because every day, 1,000 to 2,000 vehicles were being registered.

“When such is the situation, it’s near impossible to manage the traffic. The department is also looking at ways to regulate the number of registrations,” he said.

The minister said that 300 new CCTVs would be installed at traffic junctions to monitor traffic movement live. Already, 189 CCTVs are in place at important junctions. Parameshwara said that recently 2,800 police were recruited for Bengaluru city, among whom, 845 of them had been diverted to traffic department.

“Managing traffic is our biggest challenge. Even during the global investors meet, this was a much talked-about issue. The department is trying its best to address it,” he added.