Broken infrastructure: Bengaluru's traffic mayhem set to get worse when schools reopen
Bengaluru: With less than 10 days left for all schools to reopen, Bengaluru's more severe traffic nightmares are yet to arrive. The city is ill-prepared for the situation —roads dug up, pavements broken, potholes as big as craters, and drains ready to overflow.
Schools are particularly concerned about potential traffic build-up near their premises, which will make daily school journeys challenging.
Sri Kumaran Children's Home, Mallasandra, has written to its students' parents to directly write to the municipal or public works department. "A collective voice from the parent community may help highlight the urgency of the matter and prompt swifter action," the letter to the parents read.
The school said it brought the matter to the govt authorities' attention and formally requested that the work be expedited.
However, the private institution's role is limited to alerting them.
"Parents have been writing to us about the condition of the roads not being good. Since it is not our domain, we sent a circular stating we raised this issue earlier. We also suggested that if they are keen and want to escalate, they could do it as a collective action," said Deepa Sridhar, secretary, Sri Kumaran Group of Institutions.
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The situation is set to worsen not just in the usual hotspots but also in the central business district, where traffic deviations are in place due to the ongoing white-topping work. There are at least 14 educational institutions in and around MG Road, Residency Road, Brigade Road, and St Mark's Road. With the schools set to reopen, nothing but more chaos is expected on the roads.
"We are writing to all the parents explaining the situation.
We have taken three BMTC buses more on lease to run as school buses. We are asking parents to make use of them and not bring the children in their cars. We are also encouraging higher classes to take Metro trains to reach the school," said Fr Sunil Fernandes, principal, St Joseph's Boys High School.
Students, whose classes have started, are already going through the situation. Lasya Mohan Varma, a grade 11 student of Inventure Academy, recalled how some students ended up getting late for IGCSE board exams last week due to flooded roads.
"The roads have been damaged quite badly. Half of Varthur-Sarjapur Road isn't even really usable because it's filled with so much water and slush that it's practically dirt and not road anymore. This has narrowed down the road, and the traffic moves in one lane rather than two lanes at one point. This has really slowed down the journey and made it a lot more uncomfortable," she said.
The situation was the same in Oct last year when the school went online, with students losing valuable school hours.
"Things will be worse in the coming days as all schools are reopening, and there will be hundreds of school buses plying on the roads," she said. The students are taking the initiative to get the attention of the authorities to the issue.
"The roads are in a shambles as usual. They were dug for laying some pipes and just closed. As such, the road in front of our school is congested where it takes half an hour to move 200 metres.
We are worried about it, particularly during rain," said M Srinivasan, founder chairman, Gear Innovative International.
"Parents here are worried about the daily commute. It is an unwritten rule in our area that wherever the school bus gets stuck, the residents of the nearest apartment complex will give the children snacks or access to the bathroom. It is heart-wrenching to see children stuck. And the worry continues for next year.
Whichever govt comes or goes, nothing has changed here," said Suresh Dhulipala, a resident of Skanda Moksh in Balegere.
"School transport is unreliable, with vehicles often delayed or stranded due to potholes or waterlogged streets. Walking is equally risky, with no footpaths and heavy construction-related dust causing respiratory issues in children and the elderly," said another parent, Piyush Jaiswal, whose child takes more than an hour every day to reach the school 10 km away.
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