The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : BMTC makes another attempt to prevent jaywalking at bus station

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Thursday, Sep 21, 2006
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

BMTC makes another attempt to prevent jaywalking at bus station

Anil Kumar Sastry

Traffic controllers patrol the roads at Kempe Gowda Bus Station

ROADS ARE FOR BUSES: Order has been restored on the approach road to Kempe Gowda Bus Station because of the BMTC crackdown on jaywalkers. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has started to enforce the ban on pedestrian movements on the roads near the entrance of the Kempe Gowda bus stand.

\The BMTC's traffic controllers have been patrolling the area urging the people to use the pedestrian bridge.

The drive began a week ago. Calm prevails on the Tank Bund Road leading to the bus stand in the absence of pedestrian movement and the consequent chaos that go with it. Although it is not their job, the traffic controllers seemed to be happy with the new duty entrusted to them, which is in the interest of the public.

V. Nagaraj, Station Manager of Kempe Gowda Bus Station, said jaywalking was a serious threat to the safety of the general public. With one bus entering the bus station every three seconds, drivers were at their wits' end while putting up with the waywardness of the pedestrians.

Over six lakh people visited the bus station every day. If the bus station was shut down even for 10 minutes, life in the city was paralysed, Mr. Nagaraj said.

The pedestrian bridge, which was built in 1981, has never been fully exploited. Several attempts made by BMTC and the city police in the past to prevent jaywalking failed. Pedestrians obstruct movement of buses not only on the main road, but also at the gates of bus bay rings.

This time, Mr. Nagaraj said, the enforcement would be permanent. A week later, BMTC would request the traffic police to fine jaywalkers and those who jump off moving buses.

Although there were subways connecting the bus station with the railway station and the Gandhinagar area, many people preferred to jump the barricades and walk on the road.

After being cleared of beggars the hawkers, the pedestrian bridge looks user-friendly with the display boards indicating route numbers and platform numbers in Kannada and English at every ramp.

While many have welcomed the move, a few have not.

When The Hindu photographer was taking pictures of the enforcement of the rule at bus station, a gentleman said: "Take the pictures and publish them sir. They are causing so much trouble to us."

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