Saturday, November 9, 2024
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St John’s Hospital No Horn zone thrown to wind

city kemp

city kempIt may be recalled that then the Commissioner of Police S Mariswamy, had passed orders making Hosur Main Road and Sarjapur Road into one-way from March 12, 2005 to ease the traffic congestion. After few years, it was reverted back. So also the  BBMP in 2010 constructed an underpass at Madivala at a cost of Rs 16 crore. In the same time, the Hosur Road was widened by 30 meters at a further cost of Rs 27 crore. Now all these efforts have gone down the drain.
Similarly, the underpasses on Sarjapur Road which was planned by the Government during the regime of BJP, was given up after much debate and it was decided, that Sarjapur Road passes through a residential area splitting Koramangala 2nd block and 3rd block and instead Hosur Road should be the main road to take the load of the National Highway.
The Ring Road through HSR layout was the option to meet this heavy traffic. Now again the residents on either side of the Sarjapur main road, splitting Koramangala are facing the same problem. It is just not the traffic alone but also the quantum of sound and noise pollution caused by this diversion of traffic. The houses are filled with soot and the polluted air is bound to bring along an array of respiratory diseases and even cancer, say the doctors living in the area.
The same holds good for the stretch in front of St John’s which is supposed to be a NO HORN zone. Will the Government and the Traffic Police assure the residents that the noise and pollution levels will be below the Government specified levels? And the levels specified for healthy living?
The new one way rule disconnects St John’s Hospital from Koramangala, HSR and all localities on the Sarjapur Road. It would be a nightmare for doctors working at the Hospital to reach St. John’s when they are needed in emergencies.
School going children and senior citizens from these localities are put to great hardship due to one way system
Majority of the residents in Kudremukh colony are senior citizens, who need access to basic necessities for day to day living. Presently they can’t even cross the road to reach the post office, the Koramangala BDA Complex etc because of heavy, continuous and fast traffic.
Recently three new bus stops were constructed in between Water tank and Krupanidhi Junction. This served as the life line of the residents of Koramangala 2nd block and 3rd block, as well thousands of employees and visitors of more than 45 Central Govt. Offices situated in Kendriya Sadan, Astro Physics and Survey of India. Residential areas and Offices of Koramangala 2nd block have now became isolated islands to which access is denied.
While the World attempts to leave less of a carbon print on ecology, the new traffic system works against the basics of ecology, as thousands of vehicles that commute via the Sarjapur road on a daily basis have to take a much longer route which is more than two kilometers than the earlier route. This wastes precious fuel and causes pollution to a well reputed residential area.
The additional fuel burnt by this new venture, in an year, would be adequate to build a state of the art flyover on Hosur road, which would have been a perfect and ideal solution. Scientific data and surveys in the past have demonstrated that Hosur Road needs to be tackled and not Sarjapur road.
-Dr Reji Koshy Thomas
Professor Ophthalmology,
St John’s Medical College and Hospital

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