For traffic sanity, time to ban marriages in Palace Grounds?

 

Bengaluru travellers tend to get stuck for hours on Bellary Road, Palace Road, Jayamahal Road and Mekhri Circle as guests for events, and their vehicles, crowd into Palace grounds, slowing traffic down to a crawl. 

 

This apart, with hardly 13 months left for the Karnataka state elections, many political leaders will also be holding conventions.As MN Shreehari, a traffic expert, pointed out, the issue mostly arises because the area is a main corridor for those who take this route to reach the Kempe Gowda International Airport.

 

 

The land belongs to the Mysuru royal family and is under dispute, hence no construction can be taken up till the issue is settled. The tenants who have taken the lands for lease are renting it out for marriages and other events.

 

"The motorist suffer during peak hours, especially when political conventions are held. The other menace is that guests park their vehicles in the residential area adjacent to the grounds. This causes inconvenience to homeowners. Hence it is high time such events are stopped and shifted," said Shreehari.

 

Dr AR Aanand, a resident of Sankey Tank and President of the Sankey Park Walkers Association, says that it is a crime to waste others time - especially when that time is being spent stuck in traffic. 

 

"The marriage halls in the palace ground have come up at the cost of greenery. The BBMP, which gives permission for such events, should cut down on permissions," Anand said.

 

 

However, this is not an accurate view. As the ground is technically private property, the BBMP cannot refuse 'permission' or ask them to not hold events.   

 

"This is very reason the government has suggested for a steel bridge flyover. Now that the matter is with NGT, we will look for other options soon,"  said G Padmavathi, Bengaluru City Mayor.

 

 

Incidentally, traffic police, who suffer most during any functions, say that they will be the happiest ones if any measures are taken to stop major functions in Palace Grounds.