While travelling to the Yeshwantpur Traffic and Transit Management Centre (TTMC) is a health hazard, thanks to dust and pollution, stepping into the `-91.9 crore, five-floor TTMC could be suicidal if you are not careful. Inspectors and traffic managers at the TTMC have a tough time managing close to 300 buses that come in every day.
“Both commuters and officials have to be alert to make sure that no untoward incident takes place,” said an inspector.
Hassled inspectors are seen trying to manage traffic flow. Buses entering the TTMC have to make way for buses exiting it or vice versa, as gates of the two depots open into the TTMC.
The problem, according to TTMC officials, is clear—the design of the TTMC was not well-planned.
Buses enter and exit from both sides of the TTMC. Though the passage can just fit two buses (buses entering the TTMC and exiting the depot), the problem begins when buses need to turn into the bus bays or platforms. “As bus bays are narrow, when we need to negotiate curves, we have to cut into the lanes of exiting buses. Since there are buses entering and exiting TTMC constantly, it becomes a problem when two buses enter and exit the TTMC together,” said Anandappa, a driver.
Adding to the constraint created by the narrow passage, bikes and cars are parked on the right side of the entrance, though there is a parking area on the left side of the TTMC. When asked, an official claimed that the bikes belong to drivers and conductors. “We will shift the bikes to the parking area soon,” he said.
If one is not careful, the marble-floored entrance to the parking area for bikes itself can pose a problem. Although vehicles slow down while entering the parking area, one may easily slip and lose balance on his/her bike, if he/she keeps his/her feet on the floor and is not careful.
Work at the station has been left incomplete. While the TTMC’s upper level has benches for commuters to sit on as well as toilets and small shops where consumer goods are available, the lower level, which was opened only a few weeks ago, does not have any of these facilities.
Worse, there are square shaped gaps on the platform as tiles are missing at places. As there are no signs to warn commuters of these gaps, even walking on the platform is a risk.
Though one of the objectives behind a TTMC is to decongest traffic in the area, the Yeshwanthpur TTMC seems to do exactly the opposite. Buses exiting the TTMC and going towards Mathikere, JC Nagar, Mekhri Circle, Cantonment and Shivajinagar join other vehicles at the circle, adding to the already piled up traffic. When asked, officials claimed there were no problems as traffic police had been posted at the signal to manage the traffic.
