Batchu Rushali
The traffic police served notices to the commuters who wrongfully entered the bus-priority lane on the Outer Ring Road. Besides, civic groups also conducted awareness campaigns, in an attempt to clear the way for BMTC buses.
With the intent to make public transport more useful and fast, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) came together to provide separate bus lane on the left track of the Outer Ring Road (ORR).
But the rule was not seriously implemented and people continued to come in the way of buses. This prompted the awareness campaigns by the civic groups.
Deepak Nagraj from “Bellandur Jothege” has been campaigning on his bike for five days now. For the first three days, he was alone. Then, several others from his group joined him.
He said, “The marshals were deployed today. The traffic police personnel are also there and they are issuing notices to people violating the rule. We will continue to march around until complete discipline and awareness among people is achieved.”
A conductor in a BMTC bus said, “People still get their vehicles into bus lane.”
Amit, a commuter who entered the bus-priority lane said, “I was just warned by the police for using the wrong lane.”
However, several other commuters in Silk Board were not given any warning despite using the lane. Several bikers were sneaking onto the lanes to avoid traffic.
The bus lane in K.R.Puram had buses with CCTV cameras to keep a check on the violators.
The BMTC buses supposed to travel in the priority lane had a sticker on them that said ‘Nimbus’. The sticker on the bus stated, ‘If you’re in the bus priority lane and you’re still using it, then you’re in the wrong lane’. A traffic police constable in K R Puram said that they will not issue any fines as of now. “We are just going to issue notice and warn people who are found violating the rule,” he said.
