Traffic chaos reigns over Banashankari Signal

With seven bustling roads cutting through the neighbourhood, Banashankari Signal is one of South Bengaluru's busiest traffic intersections.

Thousands pass through the neighbourhood that has the Banashankari Temple, a metro station, a BMTC bus stand and a market in the vicinity.

One thing commuters or pedestrians would not see in the busy neighbourhood is a traffic cop regulating the dense vehicular flow.

Located between Banashankari, Kumaraswamy Layout and Jayanagar police stations, the place has become a sort of jurisdictional no-man's-land. Lack of traffic regulation has its own effects: pedestrians and motorists often block each other's way and creating chaos at the junction.

The situation is especially worse during Tuesdays and Fridays when hundreds of people flock to the temple and shop at the adjacent market. Traffic goes bumper-to-bumper with horns blaring in all corners.

With no traffic cop to question, motorists jump signals, ride in the wrong lane or on the footpath causing danger to the pedestrians. Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao, while paying a surprise visit to the Banashankari police station last week, may have missed the chaos at the junction.

Radha Surpur, a techie from BTM Layout who commutes from Banashankari, said: "There's a flood of vehicles from Kanakapura Road side and Marenahalli (Jayanagar 8th Block) side. Signals are mostly out of order and no one regulates the traffic. So, vehicles from Kanakapura cross the signal and motorists from Jayanagar push their way through, causing gridlock or collision."

Another commuter Ravi Narayankar said footpaths were encroached upon by pushcart eateries and other vendors who force people to wait for the BMTC buses on the middle of the road.

Despite the presence of a Traffic and Transit Management Centre (TTMC) at the junction, buses are parked on the busy roads such as Marenahalli Road, towards Kumaraswamy Layout.

"Regardless of the signal, buses stop in the middle of the road, causing traffic jams. Buses going towards Whitefield and Silk Board hardly follow the signals. So, motorists from Kanakapura Road have to wait until the buses move," said Prasanna Kumar, a commuter, adding that traffic cops could catch hundreds of violators and collect several lakhs of rupees if they wait at the corner of the signal.

Santanu Mohapatra, an account executive with an MNC in Bommanahalli, said: "None of the traffic signals at such a big junction is synchronised. Signals are installed unscientifically. Motorists hardly get to see them while driving. Even if the signal opens up at one end, the one on the other side would close and let the traffic pile in the middle."

Banashankari traffic inspector told DH that he had written for removing the bus stops and making the BMTC use the TTMC as the main bus stand, something that allowed successful management of traffic a few years ago.

He also confirmed that a skywalk is being built for the safer movement of pedestrians. "The skywalk will connect three points — the TTMC bus stand, Kanakapura Road and the Banashankari Temple. We're also issuing warnings and imposing fines for traffic violations," he said.

A traffic cop monitoring the corner of the road to Kumaraswamy Layout said conditions were tough for pedestrians, but people in the area were used to it. "Sometimes, we (the police) help elderly people cross the road. Despite our best efforts, even the traffic signals don't work properly sometimes. So, (using) the pedestrian crossing here is out of question," the cop said.

When DH reached out to the police commissioner, he said: "I'll discuss with the traffic and law and order police officials and chalk out a plan to ease the traffic problems at the junction."