Urban News

The Deccan Chronicle  22.09.2010

Sept. 21: With the city getting more crowded by the day and parking space shrinking on its roads as a result, frustration and anger is growing among commuters and those who bear the brunt of haphazard parking on the streets. Six months ago, a family barged on to the stage at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, while a play was in progress, to protest against the cars that were parked in front of their house.

While not everyone’s reaction is as extreme, there is mounting frustration with the chaos in the city, particularly around places of religious worship where people arriving for prayers leave their cars or other vehicles parked on the roadsides.

It is a good idea to avoid Mysore Road on Saturdays as there is usually a traffic pile-up for almost an hour on the stretch after the Sirsi Circle Flyover with crowds of devotees making their way to a temple here. Sundays too see several roads of the city blocked while people make their way to temples.

The situation is no different around mosques and churches too, so much so that those who have homes around places of worship have been getting into arguments with people arriving to offer prayers as they often leave their vehicles parked in front of them. “It is almost impossible to take out our vehicle in the mornings as devotees park their cars or have drivers waiting for them in their cars in front of our door,” complains Ravindran, a resident of Malleswaram.

The problem, says civic expert Arun Ganesh, is that most religious places in the city are located in congested areas or in the older parts of Bengaluru, where there is little space for parking. “The government must increase the parking place around temples and other places of worship where a large number of people arrive in their cars,” he says. But neither the police nor BBMP has any action plan in place to manage traffic around temples or other religious places. “There cannot be a specific plan for traffic management around temples. But we do introduce diversions when we anticipate bigger crowds at religious centres,” says a traffic police officer.

A traffic expert suggests that multi-level parking lots must be planned in congested areas to take the pressure off the roads. But that is obviously easier said than done. Perhaps better civic sense among the people could help. And a more hands-on approach by the traffic police and the BBMP to regulate traffic around places of worship is certainly called for.