BENGALURU: In a city that has been growing exponentially, traffic congestion has been Bengaluru’s big minus in recent years. To tackle this, the State Government has now decided to expand major roads in the Central Business District (CBD) areas and streamline traffic at a cost of Rs 30 crore.
Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who was speaking at the launch of the Road Safety Awareness month on Saturday, said traffic management also means good roads, pedestrian-friendly footpaths and traffic discipline. A positive traffic culture has to be imbibed in people and the state government will work towards this by not just ensuring good traffic management but also by incorporating sophisticated ways to monitor traffic violations, number plate identification, traffic signal management, camera-based traffic signals, etc, he said.
The Home Department has also sanctioned Rs 100 crore for road safety, new traffic signal installation, safety of traffic police in other parts of Bengaluru and also other major cities in the state. Apart from this, `470 crore has been sanctioned to modify 12 high-density corridors in the state. The PWD is working in coordination with the NHAI towards preventing accidents on highways, he said.
“We have sanctioned funds for major road safety-related issues, specially highways. To prevent accidents on the state’s highways, we will be coming up with measures to remove black spots,” he explained.
“The government aims to make Karnataka into a role model for being the best traffic-managed state. This year will be observed as ‘Road Safety and Traffic Management Year’.
We will plan and also implement all projects that have been planned towards road safety. It is not just this one month of creating awareness but the entire year should see easing of traffic in the state and also prevention of accidents.” Bommai said. Joint Commissioner of Police (traffic) B R Ravikanthe Gowda said, “We are observing Road Safety Month where we plan to spread awareness by holding special drives. Accidents are a major cause of deaths. We want to prevent that and it is everyone’s responsibility that our roads are safe. This year’s slogan is “Safe Roads, Save Lives”.