Budget vibes: Funds not enough, focus on parking, mass transport

City expert contends that constructing flyovers to ease traffic jams is like using a band-aid for a fracture

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Is the allocation of huge funds all that Bengaluru needs to get rid of its civic woes including burgeoning traffic, crumbling infrastructure and flooding during the monsoon months? Urban and mobility experts in the city disagree and feel that allocating crores of rupees alone might not be enough for the development of infrastructure in Bengaluru. The IT City has been ranked among the most trafficcongested cities in the world.

During his speech on the budget, CM Bommai had announced Rs 150 crore towards development of 75 important junctions with the highest traffic congestion along with Artificial Intelligence (AI) for management of traffic signals here.He also announced whitetopping of an additional 120 km of roads in the city at a cost of Rs 1000 crore.

Mobility expert and adviser to the government of Karnataka for traffic, Professor MN Sreehari said that while white-topping is a good measure as it has been proven to ensure longer life for roads, the authorities also need to ensure better quality of road construction.

"The announcement of Rs 150 crore for improvement of 75 junctions does not carry any meaning. Instead, they could have seamless traffic signalisation. Secondly, we should all consider the need for parking because this is one of the main reasons for congestion in the city," Sreehari said.

The professor who is also the chairman for the Indian smart cities development organization for infrastructure further stated that spending crores on the construction of flyovers is a temporary measure, and the congestion will only move from one junction to the next. "These elevated roads do not hold any solution at all because they will push the problem to the next junction. They (government) should use common sense while implementing these things," he added.

The Chief Minister had also said that a high powered body, Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) has been constituted in order to co-ordinate the operations of various transport agencies and to find out scientific remedies to mitigate the traffic problems in fast developing Bengaluru city. Urban expert Ashwin Mahesh agreed that the government has allocated Rs 10,000 crore for the city this year but it seems to be mostly a five-year plan.

"The government should not be doing this anymore since the announcement of the BMLTA. First, the projects should be in the Master Plan and then proposed to BMLTA, which will approve select projects,” the expert said.

Another expert Srinivas Alavilli said that constructing flyovers to prevent traffic jams is the same as using a band-aid on a fracture! "It may hide the problem for a bit but will cause more damage. We need to instead focus on mass transport, autos, cycling and footpaths in the city," he said.

Following huge backlash and criticism from residents and activists against poor traffic management and bad quality roads, the state government had appointed IPS officer MA Saleem as Special Commissioner, Traffic for Bengaluru.

The officer helped solve several traffic issues in the city and also came up with innovative systems such as synchronising traffic signals and regulating the movement of heavy vehicles during peak traffic hours in the city.

Bengaluru had also become a flashpoint in 2022 as it struggled to cope with urban floods triggered by incessant rains in August and September. Large-scale encroachments of lakes, rajakaluves and buffer zones caused frequent flooding of houses.