While in a matter of two decades, Whitefield has gone from a sleepy village to one of the biggest IT hubs in the city, the policing system seems to have remained behind.
According to police sources, just 35 policemen manage the Whitefield Traffic Police Station — whose area includes national highway 207, State highway 35, and the busy areas of Varthur, Mahadevapura, and Whitefield — while not one CCTV camera scans the area for traffic violations.
“Enforcement needs to pick up and there has to be more visibility of traffic policemen in the area,” said M.A. Saleem, the newly-appointed Additional Commissioner (Traffic).
He said the situation may ease with the setting up of the HSR Layout Traffic Police Station (where areas such as Varthur will be added to the jurisdiction), while the Police Department were pushing for the creation of a traffic station at Mahadevapura.
Apart from these, the police are hoping to rope in and train citizens to become traffic wardens.
With high density of vehicles headed towards and away from Whitefield, the traffic mess in the area has forced the police to implement one-way systems as short-term measures to reduce the waiting time at junctions. Already, Hoodi Main Road has become one-way, while a compulsory right at Graphite India has made the junction signal-free.
“We are looking to make more roads one-way, especially if there are alternative roads within a half-a-km radius. There also needs to be diversions of trucks and lorries… State highway 35 and national highway 207 need to be utilised better,” said Mr. Saleem.
