Amid traffic woes, Bengaluru police orders Phoenix Mall of Asia to close for 15 days

In his order, Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayanand invoked sections 144(1) (power to issue an order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) and 144(2) (ex-parte notice) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to restrict public access to the mall.

Dayananda said, “The commercial complex is adjacent to the service road of Bellary Highway, which is the main connecting road to the Kempegowda International Airport. This highway also connects Byatarayanapura, Sahakar Nagar, Judicial Layout, Jakkur area, NTI Layout and other surrounding thickly populated areas of North Bengaluru to other parts of the city via Hebbal. Further, there are major hospitals and office spaces functioning alongside this highway. As a result, the highway acts as a lifeline to the northern areas of Bengaluru.”

“But the mall has only 2 basements to park 2,324 cars and two-wheelers. As there is not enough space for parking in this mall, the vehicles of the public coming to the mall are waiting in queue at the entrance of the mall without being able to enter inside. Due to this, there is traffic congestion on the service road alongside the main road and this in turn leads to vehicular traffic getting halted for a long time on both sides of the highway’s main carriageway,” the Bengaluru police commissioner said.

According to the order, only a partial occupancy certificate has been issued by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) as the mall is a 12-storeyed building, including 2 basement floors, with an area of 86,421 square meters from the ground floor to the third floor.

The Bengaluru police commissioner has also written to the BBMP requesting them to withdraw or cancel the partial occupancy certificate issued to the Mall of Asia.

The order said, “Due to paucity of time and exigencies herein, there is no time to grant hearing to any affected persons and there exists no opportunity for any other course of action to be taken.”

A report was sought from both law and order and traffic units as traffic on this stretch has been a concern after the inauguration of Phoenix Mall of Asia on October 27.

In the report, the joint commissioner of traffic said there is a “need to provide parking space for at least 10,000 cars and 10,000 two-wheelers.”