Officials explained that additional police would be deployed between 8 am and 8.30 am to enforce a dedicated carriageway in the central business district area in Bengaluru for the safe dropping of students. (Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh for representation)
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As part of a slew of measures initiated to reduce travel time and ease traffic in Bengaluru, police are addressing the long-standing problem of vehicle congestion near schools in the central business district and other areas.
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Under the measures taken by traffic commissioner M A Saleem, a “dedicated carriageway” will be enforced effectively and a “safe passage way” will be reintroduced allowing parents to drop off their children in school playgrounds safely, according to police.
Traffic police deployed on Residency Road explained that over 30 personnel currently manage close to 20,000 students who attend Bishop Cotton’s Girls School, Bishop Cotton’s Boys School, Sacred Heart Girls’ High School, and St Joseph’s Boys High School and other schools in the area.
A traffic police officer said, “The main idea is to segregate peak-hour office-going traffic from the school traffic before 8.30 am. School buses are supposed to drop students before 8.15 am. After 8.30 am, no school bus will be allowed to stop near schools and violators will have to pay a penalty. We have already instructed school managements to start classes early. We are directing schools that start classes a little late to start early.”
A traffic police officer explained the safe passage ways being reintroduced in schools. “Although this model had existed earlier, it was not strictly implemented. Parents will be given one entry and one exit points. They can drive their vehicles from the entry point and drop their kids in the playground and drive back to the exit point. This avoids parents stopping by the main roads to drop their kids,” he said.
Officials explained that additional police would be deployed between 8 am and 8.30 am to enforce a dedicated carriageway in the central business district area for the safe dropping of students. Traffic will be eased for office-goers once the peak hour kicks in from 8.30 am.
Many commuters faced inconvenience, especially on Residency Road, when school buses and vans remained parked along the stretch throughout the day, throwing traffic out of gear from the Richmond Road flyover to Brigade Road.
