BENGALURU: With nearly 3,000 delegates likely to participate in the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas which will be held from January 7-9, motorists are keeping their fingers crossed. Many motorists fear that traffic on the already congested stretches in the city may get worse because of the VVIP movements.
Additional Police Commissioner (Traffic) R Hithendra told Express that traffic may be affected only on roads leading to and from airports (KIA and HAL), hotels where the VVIPs will stay and the venue - Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre.
“We are yet to get the schedules of the VVIPs coming to the city. But we are not anticipating any major traffic congestion because of VVIP movements except on Tumakuru Road and Airport Roads,” he said.
“We have been told that the prime minister is going from the airport to the venue in a helicopter. We will come up with a plan once we receive the list of dignitaries. We will also provide updates about the congested stretches through social media sites,” Hithendra said.
The traffic police has decided to put additional cranes to remove vehicles that have broken down or are illegally parked on the roads leading to the venue, hotels and airports.
Among the worried motorists is P Ramkumar, a resident of Goraguntepalya. He said, “Traffic police should ensure that motorists are not inconvenienced due to VIP movements. Ideally, traffic police should facilitate VIP movements during non-peak hours without affecting the common people.”