Traffic stopper: IPL match ties Bengaluru up in knots

Bengaluru: Traffic was thrown out of gear across the city since early Saturday afternoon after thousands of cricket fans headed to the Chinnaswamy Stadium to watch the IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Lions.

Though the match was scheduled to start around 4 pm, traffic jams were reported from across the city as early as 12.30 pm. The East Division traffic police had made a several diversions and deployed several men on the streets to manage traffic, but commuters were stuck in gridlocks for many hours on Infantry Road, Cubbon Road, Kasturba Road, M.G. Road, Queen’s Road, Rajbhavan Road, Race Course Road, Museum Road, Vittal Mallya Road, St. Mark’s Road, Residency Road, Palace Road, and several areas in and around Shivajinagar, Halsoor, Johnson Market, Corporation Circle, Richmond Circle, Adugodi and other areas.

“As crickets fans were allowed to park their vehicles inside Cubbon Park, the police had blocked all roads that pass through the park to the stadium. Diversions on Cubbon Road junction, Siddalingaiah Circle and the entry near the High Court gate were unnecessary,” a commuter said.

Traffic jams were seen from the CBD till Mysore Road on the west, until Halsoor on the east, till Golf Coast Road towards north and until Adugodi and surrounding areas on Hosur Road towards south. All roads in the 5-6 km radius of the stadium witnessed gridlocks.

Though several policemen had been deployed around the stadium to manage the crowd, soon after the match, people were seen walking in a haphazard manner and running helter-skelter on the streets and intersections.

“It is common for traffic density to become more during matches. There was slow movement of traffic, but everything was cleared by our men,” said Chandrashekar Baba, DCP, Traffic – East Division.