Traffic congestion in IT hubs down 50%; strike impact in Bengaluru minimal

BENGALURU: The traffic burden on some city stretches infamous for congestion reduced by half on Monday, thanks to the Bengaluru bandh called by private transport operators who stayed off roads. Citizens, however, weren't much affected by the disruption in transport facilities.Barring a few passengers stranded at bus stands near Majestic, Kalasipalya and other locations and some Metro users hassled by the lack of autorickshaws for last-mile connectivity, most citizens commuted smoothly on city roads that seemed emptier than usual.MN Anucheth, joint commissioner (traffic), said the IT corridors around Outer Ring Road, Whitefield, Varthur, Sarjapur etc. saw almost a 50% drop in traffic volume for a Monday morning."Central business district recorded a dip of 20-30% in traffic volume as per our intelligence on the ground. Roads had fewer cars and the rush was considerably low for a Monday morning. We attribute this to many companies opting for work from home and schools closing for the day. However, parts of the city where auto drivers took out a procession - from Majestic to Freedom Park - did see significant congestion during their march," the officer said.Vehicles affiliated to cab and auto aggregators also stayed off the roads till afternoon when the strike was withdrawn. KR Market, where many private bus operators have offices, sported a sleepy look. Most buses were parked at Kalasipalya bus stand and offices had their shutters down. A few that were open were only to call and pacify passengers over the cancellations made against their advanced bookings. Many delivery companies in the area said delivery of packages would suffer by a day or two.While some were okay with that, a few expressed anger at the losses they were forced to incur due to the strike.Manas Das, president, Outer Ring Road Companies Association, said while it was difficult to quantify the percentage of companies that opted for work from home on Monday, many did choose to give employees the flexibility of that option."Different offices have taken different decisions. We can't be sure how many. We also can't quantify how many cab operators, who ferry employees to and from work, decided to work on the bandh day and how many didn't. Some who had agreed to run their vehicles decided not to at the last moment," Das said.Autos and cabs were back on roads after the bandh was called off in the afternoon.