BENGALURU: With the imposition of fines on motorists who infringe on the exclusive 20km Bus Priority Lane on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) having little effect, some residents and civic groups have come forward to spread awareness on the importance of the exclusivity of the bus lane. To prevent motorists from intruding into the bus lane, the traffic police are imposing a fine of Rs 500 for first-time offence and Rs 1,000 for second violation.
On Friday, members of the Bellandur Jothege led a public awareness drive from Iblur Junction to Eco Space on the ORR with 23 volunteers holding placards. “We started our drive at 9.30 am and continued it till 11.30 am. It was very necessary for us to conduct the drive as the public needs to know that the lane is exclusively only for buses. Through the placards, many were able to understand this. Such frequent drives can bring about change,” said K G Mohan, a member of BJ.
Another member, Deepak Nagaraj, who has been carrying a placard stuck to his backpack while commuting to and fro work, was also part of the drive. “Initially, many two- and four-wheelers used to encroach into the bus lane. But after we started the drive, people have started following rules. Many gave us a thumps up for the drive,” Nagaraj said.
Apart from volunteers, marshals deployed by BBMP and traffic police have been keeping a check on the violators.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Traffic (East) K V Jagadeesh said, “The BPL comes under four police station limits — HSR Layout, Madiwala, Airport and KR Puram. Additional traffic police personnel will be brought in soon. We are waiting for the BBMP to bring in a few more marshals.”
“We have provided the infrastructure for BPL and we are working on Phase-2 now. The enforcement aspect needs to come from the traffic police. They have requested 200 marshals of which 80 are coming from BBMP and the rest from the police,” BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar said.