Commuters see red at 80 Ft Rd, Indiranagar

Traffic lights haven’t been working for a month and there is no constable to man the signal

Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT

Bengaluru: In Bengaluru, even police property isn’t safe! The traffic lights at the busy BSNL junction on 80 Feet Road haven’t been working for over a month, after miscreants ran off with the battery. An inspector from the Jeevan Bhima Nagar Traffic said, “We have filed a complaint with Jeevan Bhima Nagar Police. We have also informed the Traffic Management Center about the missing battery at the traffic signal. I have deputed a police constable to regulate traffic at the traffic junction,’’ said the Traffic Police Inspector.

The thousands of motorists and pedestrians who cross the BSNL junction say there is no traffic constable in sight, however. The traffic light remains frozen at ‘red’ and motorists have no idea whether they should halt or proceed. This confusion poses an obvious hazard for pedestrians as well. The junction is at the entry to Jeevan Bhima Nagar for pedestrians coming through 80 Feet Road, or HAL 2nd stage 13th Main.

Only two days ago, an accident on 80 Feet Road, a few hundred metres from the BSNL junction, left one dead and six injured. The tragedy should have spurred authorities into action but no such luck, say angry commuters.

The presence of a traffic constable is very much needed here but there is no policeman in sight. If you’re one of those who religiously halts at a red light, chances are, other vehicles will ram into yours from the rear.

“It is quite shocking to see the traffic signal remain round the clock. It is also very sad that there are no traffic police constables around to regulate the movement of vehicles,” said Chandrasekhar Rao S, a resident of Jeevan Bhima Nagar.

Coming down heavily on traffic police for delaying to fix the traffic signal problem, Naveen Kumar, a two-wheeler rider, says traffic police must assign at least two constables to manually regulate traffic and make sure there are no accidents. “The problem with the traffic police is that they are obsessed with penalizing motorists and pay little attention to regulating traffic. I hope the traffic police will fix the signal without any delay to ensure smooth movement of traffic here,” Kumar said.

A police inspector from Jeevan Bhima Nagar Police Station has confirmed that an FIR was registered. “We are yet to nab the thieves,’’ said the police inspector.