×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Peak-hour trucks: Ring Road's worst nightmare

Last Updated 21 September 2017, 21:42 IST
Banned from entering the city’s roads during peak hours, heavy transport vehicles are now right back on the hyper-clogged Outer Ring Road. Unregulated entry of these massive, slow-moving trucks has aggravated the traffic congestion, with commuters on the stretch between Silk Board Junction and K R Puram bearing the brunt.

The trucks seamlessly pass through five traffic police jurisdictions on this stretch, totally unchecked. Shashidhara Bangalore, an IT professional and a long-time commuter on this stretch, fumes: “They are not stopped anywhere by the Mico Layout, Madiwala, HSR Layout or KR Puram traffic police.”

A government notification mandates that all goods vehicles with more than three-ton capacity should be banned from entering city limits from 6 am to 10 pm. Only vehicles linked to water supply, garbage, police, military and hearse vehicles are exempted.

During peak hours between 8 am and 11 am and from 4 pm to 8 pm, the movement of even vehicles carrying essential services such as milk, medicines, oxygen cylinders and fuel is restricted. Yet, these vehicles are seen moving freely.

On the Silk Board junction to KR Puram ORR stretch flanked by several tech parks, the peak hour is an understatement. For, the rush exceeds far beyond the morning and evening peaks as hundreds of private cars, office buses and two-wheelers add to the chaos. The evening congestion kicks off around 4.30 pm, but even at 8 pm, there is no sign of the traffic easing.

So, why do the police allow these trucks before midnight? Why are they not forced to bypass the traffic? The police contend that there is absolutely no space on the road to halt and hold these trucks.

But Shashidhara wonders why the truck drivers are not even booked. “Can’t they at least penalise them, note down their registration numbers? The traffic police have miserably failed to bring an iota of improvement in the traffic mess at the Silk Board and KR Puram junctions,” he says.

Multi-axle inter-state trucks, concrete mixers and oil tankers are part of the HTV line-up that throws traffic out of gear. Commuters say many of these are empty and could easily be diverted to alternative roads on the outskirts that bypass the crowded arterial roads.

Viewed from atop the skywalk at Kadubeesanahalli, these heavy vehicles are clearly seen adding to the congestion, both on the ORR’s main road and its poorly maintained service lanes.

Trapped deep in the chaotic maze of cars, bikes and buses, the truck drivers do not seem to care. Neither do the law enforcers.


ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 21 September 2017, 21:42 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT