BENGALURU: Regular commuters in Madiwala can now breathe a sigh of relief, as they find that the traffic on Madiwala market road has reduced considerably after the authorities shifted about 88 vegetable and flower vendors who were encroaching upon the footpath. These were posing threats to people, slowing the traffic movement with waste being dumped on the road and vehicles stopping by to shop.
After clearance of encroachments by the Madiwala police force, Madiwala Traffic Police and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), CE spoke to commuters, passersby, and a few vendors on the current traffic situation in the area, who say congestion has reduced. Jithin Jacob, an IT employee, said the condition is much better. “The traffic was mainly due to the Electronic City buses passing through that area. Now, traffic is flowing smoothly,” added the 26-year-old, who passes the area every day at 9 am.
Interestingly, the commute time of these techies has also reduced extensively.
Jithin said he used to take around 45 minutes to reach his office earlier, but now, he is able to reach in 30 minutes. Midhun Mohan, another IT employee, also said since the cleaning of the area, traffic has eased. “Nobody wants to get stuck in traffic after a long day at work. Now that stretch of road from Krupanidhi College Junction towards Madiwala Police Station is better than before,” he said.
A flower vendor who used to do business on that stretch, Nirmal Kumar, now runs his stall at the BBMP complex. He said that though business has come down, he hopes it will pick up soon. “Earlier, it was easier for passers-by to stop and buy flowers. When the police came to shoo us from there, we thought this would be the end of our business, but as the BBMP gave us a space, we decided to shift. We can only hope that business picks up. Otherwise, I may end up being without a job,” he said.
Madiwala south-east police inspector, Bharath, said that they are patrolling the area every day to ensure there is no traffic congestion and that the area is cleaned regularly.