This Article is From Oct 18, 2010

Road to Bangalore airport a death trap?

Bangalore: Sections of the road that connects the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) to the NH-7 leading to the city have created problems for the traffic police from the beginning. The unscientific design of the circles on the road recently claimed the lives of two law students.

Nikita Bhattacharya, 20, and Praveen Murali, 23, students of the MS Ramaiah Law College, were killed after the two-wheeler they were riding hit the first of the three circles on the BIA Road around 3.30 am on October 8. The couple was returning after a night out at one of the restaurants on the airport campus.

The police blamed the unscientific design of the circle for the death of the students. The road leading to the circle narrows down suddenly leaving most drivers puzzled, they said.

"This can be the reason for the accidents. There may not be many deaths reported from the spot. But at least one accident takes place here in every three days," said Murali Kumar, transport supervisor of a private airlines.

"Earlier, mostly vehicles coming from the city used to fall prey to this unsystematic construction. Recently, the traffic police laid a speed-breaker before the circle and after this, accidents are happening on the other side," he said.

Three fatal accidents have been reported from the spot so far.

The police have asked the BIA authorities to make changes to the design to ensure the safety of the road users. "When we visited the place, we noticed something was wrong with the construction. The expert committee set up by the police also suggested few changes to the design," said Panduranga H Rane, DCP (traffic), West. "We have written to the Bangalore International Airport Limited regarding the issue as the property is owned by them. They have accepted our proposal," he said.

The police had recently blocked the night traffic on the road to Nandi Hills during night following reports of increasing crime-rate. "As youngsters cannot go to Nandi Hills at night, they wander around BIA. They restart their trip at the break of dawn. Most of the time, it is their sleeplessness or carelessness that results in such accidents," said Murali.

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