The decision of the Bengaluru Traffic Police to bar a right turn towards Hebbal at one of the gates of Manyata Tech Park for the last two weeks has led to residents blocking the back gate on Monday, leading to huge traffic snarls. Commuters took more than an hour to simply exit the park.
Retired bureaucrat Shankarlinge Gowda, a resident of the locality, said that with the right turn closed, vehicles from the park were entering the residential locality leading to chaos. “As traffic cops barred a right turn towards Hebbal, commuters have to now join those going towards Nagawara on the Outer Ring Road and later take a U-turn, adding nearly an hour to their commute. To avoid this, commuters exiting the Park and moving towards Hebbal, are now taking the back gate. The noise caused by the traffic disturbs residents,” said a software engineer working at a multinational company in the tech park.
Members of the Residents’ Welfare Association on Monday forcefully shut the back gate and held a protest. This led to a pile-up of vehicles for more than two hours, sources said.
However, traffic cops had a different story to tell. R Hitendra, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said the decision to make Veerannapalya Junction one way in the evening was taken to ease congestion. “Residents cannot ban movement of vehicles as they are public roads. There are no gated communities and private roads in the city. Vehicles moving through the back gate ease congestion and pressure on the busy ORR,” he said.
Embassy Office Parks released a statement saying: “Manyata Tech Park maintains all the connecting roads inside the campus, for the benefit of the corporate occupiers as well as the residential colony. We understand the pressures of traffic across the city and will continue to work with the authorities concerned to improve road infrastructure and avoid any inconvenience.”
