Autorickshaw driver Ravindra Nayak says he has a tough time taking customers from Bejai Kuntikana Road to Hampankatta. He has to spend nearly ten minutes at KSRTC bus stand, Lalbagh and PVS junctions.
“This is the time spent during lean traffic movement. Our misery adds up during peak time, when it takes nearly 40 minutes to reach Hampankatta,” he says.
This 50-year-old autorickshaw driver, who has been driving on the city roads for nearly three decades, has been among the many affected by the long wait time at traffic junctions because of the new traffic lights that have come up.It has been nearly six months since the new traffic signal lights came up near the KSRTC bus stand, Lalbagh, PVS, Ambedkar (Jyothi) Circle, Balmatta, Bendoorwell and Kankanady. Lack of synchronisation in the timings among these circles has been causing problems to motorists and also the pedestrians.
The problem has been acute at Lalbagh and the Bejai Kapikad. A motorists has to wait for nearly 90 seconds at the Lalbagh junction and take a right turn towards the KSRTC bus stand where again he has to wait for 140 seconds to move towards Bejai. “This has resulted in piling up of vehicles during peak hours in morning and evening and we have to rush to regulate the traffic flow,” said a traffic constable. Though some motorists wait, there have been accidents when motorists have tried to move ahead violating the no free left at these junctions. \“Day before yesterday a car that turned towards M.G. Road from KSRTC in violation of no-free left was hit by a vehicle coming down straight from Ladyhill,” said the constable, stating the impatience of motorists in waiting at the junctions. “You see some order only when we are checking,” he said. Yogish Kapikad, a Bejai resident, said pedestrians find it hard to cross road near the KSRTC bus stand within the given nine seconds.
“Youngsters like me somehow manage. But it becomes difficult if I come with my grandfather,” he said. Motorists have been complaining about problems caused by traffic lights at Kankanady, Bendoorwell and Balmatta. “It’s highly irritating for a motorist to wait for 120 seconds at Kankandy and then wait another 40 seconds at Bendoorwell, 50 meters away,” said writer Satyavathi K.
