BENGALURU: Beacon lights are gone but the VIP culture is seemingly here to stay. Commuters heading towards Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) learnt it the hard way on Friday. They were stranded on the road for about 15-20 minutes after police closed down the elevated flyover for traffic to make way for the convoy of Home Minister G Parameshwara, who had apparently gone to the airport to receive relatives. The convoy had about 10 cars.
Around 8.45pm, the traffic police placed barricades at the entry point of the elevated road and diverted vehicles towards the service roads under the flyover. Traffic movement suddenly went haywire. After Parameshwara’s convoy passed around 9.10 pm, the elevated road was opened again. But by then, the damage had been done and there was total chaos on service roads.
“Is he (Home Minister) the only busy person? I was running a bit late to catch the flight and this VIP culture almost gave me the jitters,” said a commuter Bhavya, adding, “Thousands of commuters had to suffer just for one person’s convenience.”
Commuters heading towards Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Friday were stranded on the road for about 15-20 minutes after police closed down the elevated flyover for traffic to make way for the convoy of Home Minister G Parameshwara.When contacted, Additional Commissioner of Police (traffic) Hithendra said, “I am not aware of the elevated road being closed. I was not there at the spot.”
Traffic DCP (north) Renuka said, “I personally supervised the developments and it did not take much time for the traffic to be back to normal. The convoy took just few minutes to cross.” Police deployed there said, “Parameshwara was at the airport to receive his relatives. We were here as per the direction from our senior officials to stop vehicles from plying on the elevated road.”