Special: An act of god??No, just a goof up by traffic cops

Over a dozen ambulances were stuck in a three-hour traffic jam on Tuesday - a pregnant woman actually gave birth on board one of them! Peak hours were an ordeal for motorists, as various religious processions made their way across the city. The blame rests squarely with the traffic police, who allowed this to happen. Was political patronage behind this mess? Why wasn't some thought put into planning out the logistics, asks Amit S. Upadhye

A woman delivered a baby onboard an ambulance even as a dozen other ambulances were left stranded in a three hour traffic hold- up on Tuesday as various religious processions criss-crossed the city.

Though the traffic police claimed to have made elaborate arrangements to prevent such a mess during the processions, traffic was thrown out of gear on many stretches.

The cascading effect was felt as far as Mysore Road where vehicles heading to the central areas of the city were held up for more than an hour.

"Many of these rallies are held regularly and the police is aware of them. All it has  to do is sit with the  community concerned and understand its needs to plan  a proper route for the procession and the necessary diversions. The public too can be informed in advance to avoid the procession  routes,” points out Ashiwn Mahesh, member of ABIDe, wondering why the police fails to manage traffic in such situations  every year.  

Even two weeks ago when Chief Minister Siddaramaiah decided to inspect the ongoing work on Bellary Road, several passengers missed their flights as his convoy held up traffic for a long time.
Professor M N Sreehari, who heads Traffic Engineering and Safety  Trainers (TEST), recalls that successive governments have been repeatedly asked  to permit rallies only on the city’s outskirts.

"Even the High Court has said that  processions, including the political ones must be allowed only in areas where every day life is not  affected. Those arriving for political rallies are anyway brought to the city from elsewhere, so why not take them a little  further to avoid congestion in Bengaluru which does not have the  luxury of good roads or alternative routes to divert traffic effectively. If the rallies are organised on the arterial roads  it will have a ripple effect in most parts of the city," he says.

Civic activists believe  it is high time the government came to grips with the situation in the interest of ordinary Bengalureans, especially those who are sick and in need of emergency care as their welfare cannot be put on hold owing to its indifferent policies and the police's ineffective planning for such eventualities.

But, police think they did a great job!

People out on the roads may have suffered long delays owing to the  traffic hold-up, but the police seems pleased with the way it handled Tuesday’s processions, claiming everything was better organised this year relatively speaking.

Unlike last year when the traffic was held up for even longer around the Majestic area, it flowed  smoothly as the KG Road was made two-way, it says.

While admitting that  the traffic on Mysore Road was blocked, it blames this partly on the large  number of vehicles coming to the city from Mysore via this route.

"The traffic was held up for sometime on a few stretches but it was cleared  immediately. Moreover managing religious processions is always  challenging for the police. With the emotional quotient running high we cannot enforce the law during such  rallies. People would mind if we tried to curb parking and so on. Sometimes commuters have no other choice but to wait for the roads to clear," says a police  officer.

But traffic experts feel the police cannot wash its hands off  the situation this way. For instance, it can make sure that processions don’t occupy the entire road and  a part of it is free for  regular traffic. 

"If the head and tail of the  procession spreads over more than a kilometer or so it becomes impossible to restore normalcy on the roads and can cause gridlocks in other parts of the city. When its not possible for the police to keep the rally length compact, it can always create blocks by cutting the procession and allowing the traffic to proceed. This will help decongest the road and shorten delays for commuters who have nothing to do with the rallies," says one expert.

Why weren’t the traffic cams used effectively?

Srinidhi Sampath, a member of Praja RAAG (Research Analysis And Advocacy Group

Planning in advance  is the only way  to avoid massive congestion on roads during processions and rallies.

The police needs to decide which routes can be spared for processions and which cannot. It has the statutory powers to stop any unauthorized procession that may be organised during peak  hours in the  urban centre as this can have a cascading effect in other areas.

The police must have traffic flow details ready for all roads if any kind of rally or protest is in the offing.

It must also have the alternative route plans ready and the mechanism/tools including signages to implement them.

Having a good set-up for traffic information outreach  before  the event for the benefit of commuters is a must as well.

Doing a risk assessment for every route and assessing vehicular parking plans for the  event are necessary too. \

Most importantly the police must have a separate plan for  ambulance and emergency vehicle movement.

If these measures are required before the event there are other  aspects that need attention during it.

The police must strictly maintain the timings for the blockades with the organisers and monitor the traffic flow on the alternative routes on a real time basis by making effective use of its Traffic Management Centre. 

Later, once the rallies are over, it  must  concentrate on restoring regular traffic  and  conduct a post- event audit so that the next rally can cause lesser inconvenience to commuters.