The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : The killer roads in Bangalore Rural

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 17, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

The killer roads in Bangalore Rural

While the police have initiated steps to check road accidents in Bangalore Rural, the district lacks infrastructure to tackle traffic-related problems, writes K.V. Subramanya

BANGALORE RURAL, through which several State and national highways pass, has become notorious for the number of accidents that take place in the district.

After Bangalore city, Bangalore Rural district accounts for the highest number of fatal road accidents in the State.

The number of such accidents that take place in Bangalore Rural annually is more than the total of such cases reported from any eight districts of the State.

Deaths

More than 600 people are killed in road accidents every year in Bangalore Rural district, with the highest being on the Bangalore-Mysore highway, according to a senior police official.

While over 200 people die in road accidents between Kengeri and Srirangapatna on the Bangalore-Mysore Highway every year, about 100 of them are killed in Ramanagara and Channapatna taluks in the jurisdiction of the Bangalore Rural district police.

The other killer roads in Bangalore Rural district, according to the official, are the stretch of the National Highway 4 between Nelamangala and Dobbspet, Hoskote-Kolar Road and Nelamangala-Kunigal Road on National Highway 48, which is full of curves.

Overtaking

Incidentally, four persons were killed in a collision between a KSRTC bus and a car near Nelamangala on National Highway 48 on Friday.

The police say that overtaking, which results in collision as it happened in Friday's incident, contributed to 90 per cent of these accidents.

Secondly, the absence of pedestrian subways and footbridges on these accident-prone roads was also contributing to the death of pedestrians in a big way.

Road medians

Constructing road medians would greatly help in preventing collisions.

Thus, to facilitate the construction of road medians and to ensure smooth flow of traffic, roads, culverts and bridges are being straightened and widened under the Karnataka State Highway Improvement Project, which is funded by the World Bank, the official said.

Clearing bushes and trimming trees on these roads has also been taken up as they hinder traffic and also blur the drivers' vision.

Traffic education and caution signboards are also being installed on these roads, he said.

Infrastructure

While the State police have initiated some measures for preventing road accidents in Bangalore Rural district, the district lacks infrastructure to tackle traffic-related problems.

While there are more than 2,000 policemen and three IPS officers to handle traffic problems in Bangalore city, only 40 people are on traffic duty in Bangalore Rural district.

Though Bangalore Rural district has 38 police stations, only Ramanagara has a separate traffic police wing.

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