Residents pour out woes at police meet

Hameed Ashraf | NT

During the Sanchar Sampark Divasa on Saturday, top cops of Bengaluru city interacted with the public at M.R. Convention Hall near Nayandahalli between 11 am and 1 pm.

From alarming phone thefts to malfunctioning of traffic signals, residents of Bengaluru West Division poured out their grievances to the City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant, Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic, B.R. Ravikante Gowda and other senior police officials.

Naveen Kumar, an advocate and a resident of Pantarapalya highlighted the issue of heavy vehicles, especially trucks, parked on the either side of Outer Ring Road that connects to Nayandhalli. “We requested several drivers not to park their vehicles on the road as it is not safe at night,” he said.

A senior citizen complained of bikers speeding on the Gangondanahalli main road especially during the nights disturbing the residents of the area. “It’s like living in the middle of a race track,” he said.

Ravikante Gowda assured the residents that stern action will be taken against mischief mongers.

The underpass towards Nayandahalli, connecting north and south Bengaluru, has been in dire need of lighting for quite some time now. “Vehicles such as cars drive through aggressively despite potholes and random cuts on the roads. But bikers tend to lose balance,” another resident, Syed Kaleem complained.

Parwez Ahmed, a resident of Jnana Bharathi requested to extend the traffic signal time for pedestrians, especially senior citizens, crossing the highway near Rajarajeshwari Nagar junction. “The 30 seconds runs out before they cross the road,” he said. Gowda directed the officers to extend the crossing time to 60 seconds.

Hema, a resident of Chandra Layout, complained that several minors are often seen smoking cigarettes near Chandragiri Park. The jurisdictional police assured her that police will keep an eye on the area.

City Commissioner Kamal Pant expressed gratitude as more and more people are coming up with suggestions towards the improvement of traffic management in the city. He assured that he would look into their grievances.