Traffic in Bengaluru getting more distressing: BJP

Bengaluru, Aug 21 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday blamed successive governments for the traffic mismanagement in Bengaluru City, saying that the vehicular movement is getting more distressing with each passing day.

“Even Sundays, which used to be relatively easier, are becoming nightmarish on the weekdays. Successive governments in the state, across parties, have failed to provide our wonderful city vision and leadership that it deserves,” BJP MP Tejasvi Surya wrote on X.

He urged Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who also holds the Bengaluru Incharge Minister portfolio, to call an urgent meeting with the elected representatives and traffic management experts and discuss solutions that can be unanimously pushed forward.

“I will continue to follow this up with the powers till we find a solution. I sincerely hope, we can keep party politics aside and help our city,” said Surya.

He said that the city is adding thousands of new private vehicles every day which adds to the problem.

“The city roads, including the small lanes in residential areas, are way beyond their carrying capacity. There is no space to make more roads. Anyway, more roads mean more private vehicles,” he said.

He said that the government is not doing enough to reduce the number of private vehicles on the roads and increase the public transport options, adding that the BMTC is crowded while Metro, during peak hours, also remains packed.

“The high-charging Uber-Ola taxis are not reliable and take forever to even turn up at your location. Autorickshaws simply cancel rides. Our footpaths are also not pedestrian friendly and in most places are encroached by hawkers. The condition of the roads across the city is pathetic, with potholes and unscientific humps,” Surya said.

He added that BBMP and its officials turn a blind eye to all the commercial developments in residential areas, further adding to the traffic density.

“Something drastic has to be done to address this. It needs to be done now with warlike urgency. We need to experiment with out-of-the-box solutions like the odd-even model or the Singapore model of limiting the number of cars or anything radical that works in the short term,” he said.

He said that for the long term, the city needs to double down on the investments and urgency on public transportation and drastically reduce private vehicles.

“The city is crying for help. Our people, especially the middle class need us to act to improve their quality of life. We are spending more time in mind-numbing traffic than with our family and loved ones,” he said.