Traffic congestion on Hubli bypass worsens

hubli: when the bypass road for the pune-bangalore national highway passing through the twin cities became operational, it was expected that the nightmare of driving between hubli-dharwad would come to an end. for some time, traffic congestion was considerably reduced as trucks and long-distance buses were diverted through the bypass. now, it is back to square one with the density of vehicles increasing at an alarming rate.what once again brought the stretch of nh-4 between hubli and dharwad into focus is the increase in the accident rate, which had dramatically dropped after the inauguration of the bypass. in fact, hundreds were killed in the twin cities in the last few years before the bypass was thrown open, including the ghastly accident in which seven members of the hindasgeri family were killed. in the last few months, nine persons were killed in hubli. one of the reasons for an increase in traffic in the twin-cities is the addition of new vehicles to the local vehicle population every month. besides the failure of the authorities to check the entry of private carriers into hubli. it is also expected that traffic would increase sharply as ankola-gutti and hubli-sholapur roads have been declared highways. the vehicle numbers in dharwad in 1998 stood at 1.53 lakh. what is more alarming is that on an average, 1,500 vehicles are registered at the rto in dharwad every month. according to a conservative estimate, about 18,000 vehicles cross the traffic island at kittur chennamma circle, the main traffic hub of hubli, everyday. solution: how then does the police ease the increasing traffic congestion in the twin cities? the police are of the opinion that the government will have to take up widening of the nh-4 passing through hubli-dharwad and convert it into a four-lane road. also, flyovers should be built at busy traffic junctions. a proposal is already before the government with regard to this. meanwhile, it is expected that the proposed ring road would address the problem. the government has agreed to release rs 30 crore as the first instalment. the proposal is the brainchild of the karnataka chamber of commerce and industry, hubli. the ring road will begin from gabbur cross of the pune-bangalore highway and continue through bidnal village and join gadag road at the railway gate. the proposed ring road will also connect the hubli-bijapur highway at keshwapur circle, and connect all the three highways in the twin cities as the road connects kusugal road to the apmc yard. the second stage of the project proposes to connect karwar road with traihal unkal and bijapur highway, thus completing the ring road.