BENGALURU: It is sheer chaos outside the Cubbon Park Metro station with commuters using all modes of transport to alight or depart from here. An initiative by the traffic police to streamline the autos at the entrance to this entry located adjacent to the BSNL office, by opening an auto stand here has flopped.
The banner announcing the auto stand tied to a barricade continues to remain there. But there isn't an auto in sight. The footpath on the main road outside the station leading to the GPO is lined with commuters who alight from the station. They signal autorickshaws, pre-booked taxis or personal vehicles coming to pick them to halt here or commuters arriving to this station alight from their vehicles here.
With vehicles from Cubbon Road and Chinnaswamy stadium road converging at this point, the sudden stoppage of so many vehicles is posing a risk to riders of other vehicles apart from eating into one-fourth of the space of the GPO road. To streamline this place, the Cubbon Park Traffic Police introduced a provisional auto stand here.
Additional Commissioner of Police of Road Safety Cell, Pratap Reddy, introduced it nearly two months ago, when he was the Inspector at Cubbon Park Traffic police station.
Conceding that the bottleneck created by vehicles stopping all of a sudden was a huge risk, Reddy said, “We began the stand as a pilot project to regulate the traffic here a couple of months ago. Around eight to ten autos can be parked there. The Commissioner of Police though has not issued a formal notification making this an auto parking stand.”
The stand can be effective only if errant drivers are fined, he added. “Enforcement by the traffic police is presently lacking. Hence, autos continue to park all over the place.” Asked about what action could be taken, newly posted Cubbon Park Inspector Suresh Raju said the drivers who park on the main road for some time could be penalised `100 for obstruction of traffic.
Meanwhile, commuters here continue every passing minute to stop incoming vehicles.
Srilatha Acharya, a software engineer, said she flagged off either volvo buses to the Airport or autos from outside the Metro station. Asked why she did not use the stand, she said, "I had no clue such an auto stand exists. This is news for me."
Advocate Ganapathy, who was noticed pleading with every auto passing the road to drop him at his destination, seconds it. “I never knew such a stand exists.” Commuter Vani S, says, “Everyone who wants an auto is waving out to them from the footpath here. So, am also forced to do that.”
With the stand positioned to the right of the station towards the BSNL office and a banner too in place, it is surprising that commuters are not aware of it.
Without a single auto driver available at the stand during the four times this reporter checked, it was not possible to speak to any driver. A small traffic chowki was created outside the station three months ago. A cop stationed here claimed that the stand was being used by auto drivers.