Recently the traffic police reduced the height of a pole on the Panathur-Varthur road by two meters, now restricting the movement of school buses in the area
The reduction of the height of the bracket pole by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) traffic police to stop the movement of Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV) has also hindered the movement of school buses on the Panathur- Varthur road near the HAL Railway Under Bridge (RUB).
Hitendra, a regular traveller, founder, Mithiads, said, “The traffic police did lower the height of the bar restricting HGV’s movement, but it is still high enough for tankers to pass.”
He further said that the lowering of the bar has restricted the movement of some school buses, causing stress among parents as kids have to travel through longer routes.
Schools in the area say that the reduction in the height of the pole is causing delays in the arrival of students to schools.
Sangeetha, the administrator at Genius Global School said, “The reduction of the height of the pole makes it difficult for our buses to travel through this road. It gets stuck and then the bus has to move out slowly to move further on the road. Our students always get late because of this. They reach 30-45 minutes after the school begins.”
Lakshmi, an official from Little Millenium school said, “This is a dangerous road to travel in. It always has traffic and during rains, the roads tend to get flooded. There are many complications in this road, which are yet to be fixed.”
But, Murthy, a head constable of HAL Airport Police Station said, “There is no restriction for the movement of school buses through this pole. The height of school buses has been cross-checked with the height of the pole before reducing it.”
The HAL Airport Traffic Police reduced the height of the pole on Panathur-Varthur Road, as this road, which is famous for its constant traffic, can accommodate only one vehicle at a time, and rash driving water tankers and HGVs are causing more waiting hours in the traffic.
The decision to reduce the height of the pole was to stop the movement of Heavy Vehicles (HV) through the roads.
Murthy, said, “Only one car or two, two-wheelers can cross the underpass at a time. Heavy vehicles like water tanks and cement trucks get stuck there because of the height and there is an increase in the traffic because of the same.”
Experts believe that the technicalities of the reduction in height of the bar/pole should have been consulted with experts before proceeding further.
MN Sreehari, Traffic, and Transport expert said, “This is a complex situation and there should be discussions about an alternative road. Police won’t be able to make decisions about the construction of an alternative road. So, a detailed study should be carried out by consulting experts.”
Chitresh Shrivatsava, Adjunct Faculty at CHRIST (Deemed to be University), who works in Public Policy said, “I believe that the authorities have failed to identify the exact problem and implement a situation, which will only compound the problem.”
He added that since the school buses are also facing difficulties travelling through this road now, the authorities should justify the reasons behind the erection of the pole, then the reduction. He concluded, “If the purpose is not served, it is advisable that they dismantle the pole to provide scope for free flow of traffic.”
