Hundreds of vehicles, including several school vans with children on their way to schools and office goers, were stuck in a woeful bumper-to-bumper traffic jam at Hebbal junction on Wednesday (September 4, 2024) morning during peak hours. One of the commuters complained that the traffic had come to a standstill and it took more than an hour and a half to traverse a stretch of just one kilometre.
Traffic police said that heavy trucks that had come to dump raw materials for the ongoing Namma Metro works near the junction had not only blocked the road, but also dumped the raw materials in a haphazard manner obstructing parts of the service road.
A senior traffic police official, who was clearing the traffic in the area on Wednesday morning, said that the raw material had to be cleared off the road to make way for smooth traffic. The traffic jam was cleared only by around 10 a.m., sources said.
“The traffic pile-up was very bad. It took over an hour to commute about a one kilometre stretch to reach the school. Imagine the plight of the children locked in several school buses stuck in the chaotic jam,” said Sumit Jain, a parent of one of the students. Many students reported late to their schools, sources said.
“The problem is the poor quality service road which has worsened after the recent spell of rains. This slows down traffic and causes jams everyday. The problem was aggravated on Wednesday, as trucks were unloading raw materials for the ongoing metro work. Ideally, these trucks should have unloaded raw materials during night time,” said Vinod Kumar, another resident of the area.
