After the recent accidents near the Globe circle, the traffic cops are busy at the circle putting up dividers making use of the barricades and also diverting traffic.

Now when one comes from SBI bank towards Bogarves, one could turn right in front of Globe theatre but now that has been blocked and you will have to take the road ahead and turn right from the road next to Cantonment office. All these arrangements are of preliminary nature and the cops are trying to assess the in what way the traffic will move smoothly.

The basic problem here is that taking a right from Globe coming from SBI is very difficult and one has wait in the centre of the road till you get a chance to put yourself through.

One more point is that coming in from Convent school towards Globe is quite messy and sometimes you have to wait for 3-4 minutes to get a clear road to cross as there is no traffic cop there.

The best thing is on this circle are the traffic lights which are there not in a working condition for over a year now, God only knows why they were installed.

The cops are trying to ease the traffic but to be frank its causing more chaos there.

Evlyne Bagewadi aged 14 died in an accident at Chenamma circle. She was going along with her mother, who is also injured. A truck hit their vehicle and caused this accident.

Elina was a class 9^th student of St.Joseph school camp.
Photo: SP

The Inner wheel club installed this sign board for the information of citizens at the Chennamma Circle recently.

There are few offenses mentioned and the fine to be paid.

Some of the fines are amazing. Like this one: Driving a vehicle without insurance attracts Rs.500 as fine.

So the next time a cop get holds of you when you do some traffic offense, you have a ready reckoner . So you know how much to bargain.

M Shivshankar, Belgaum traffic inspector as a part of reforming the Belgaum traffic and also the people behind keeping it straight has ordered his men, traffic cops not to use Mobiles on duty.

Now it is mandatory for cops to deposit the cell phones at a particular police station before they could go for work. Anyone who is found violating this would be punished, the inspector said. The rule came into effect to ensure that traffic policemen are not diverted from the call of duty and their concentration is not diverted while on duty.

Giving the cops some relief, Shivshankar said that the cops on duty could use the wireless phones with them to send some emergency messages to their families.   It has been a rule that cops cannot use cell phones but it was not strictly implemented, in Belgaum it is being tried.

The cops peeved by this rule but no one has gone against it either.

Associates of RASTROTTHAN SANKALP Mr. Gangadhar Patil and Mr. Chetan G conducted a survey on 9th May 2009 in Belgaum. They took snaps of almost every case of violation.

Here is their report and the photos of traffic violations done by Belgaumites.

People are often seen complaining about the increasing traffic and blaming the traffic police for the mayhem. But has anybody strictly followed the traffic rules till date. Ask one, the reply is a straight no.

The traffic system in the Belgaum City is in a pathetic condition. People of Belgaum are mostly unaware of the traffic rules. Traffic sense does not prevail in the minds of any one be it residents or concerned enforcing authorities. Innumerable cases of violations can be found almost at every nook and corner of the city. Travelling on the main roads is not at all a safe option. Traffic rules are being completely neglected and violated in many ways. Rastrotthan sankalp took an initiative to look into this aspect in detail.

Riders could be seen coming on the wrong side, overtaking from the left , crossing the guarded railway gate when train is about to arrive, escaping the traffic signal, exceeding the speed limit, etc. Even worse, youngsters are often seen with their acrobatics on bike, sometimes they drink and drive cars and bikes. College Going students often drive bikes in a Zigzag manner. They compete on the roads as well as highways ending up in accidents. Trucks all over the city creating huge traffic. Unfortunately Belgaum is not properly connected by Ring Roads meant for the trucks. Trucks can be seen entering restricted areas, parked anywhere inside the city most of the times exceeding speed limit. In these circumstances, the traffic gets worse and accidents are bound to happen.

Following are the violations we could capture in the Belgaum city limits.

Trucks movement in the City

1) Vehicles parked at no parking area

Trucks entering the no entry road

Overtaking from the left

Vehicles being driven Zigzag manner

Riders crossing the Guarded railway gate when train is about to arrive

Footpath encroachment

Traffic Rules

• Keep on your left, allowing the vehicles from the opposite direction to pass.
• Give way to traffic on your right, especially at road junctions and round about.
• While turning either left or right, give way to vehicles going straight.
• While turning left, keep to the left side and turn close to the left side of the road to which you enter.
• Slow down at the junctions, intersections and pedestrian crossings. Also slow down near school zones, temple areas etc., where a lot of pedestrians and vehicle traffic move. Give signals before you make any maneuver, indicating your intention, so that the other road users can adjust accordingly.
• Always use a helmet if on a two-wheeler and always check that the strap is fixed properly.
• Stick to the given speed limit and remember that speed limit is related to the traffic condition.
• Keep enough distance from the vehicle ahead to avoid collision.
• Yellow lines should not be crossed under any condition.
• At junctions or intersections, never park the vehicle beyond the stop line.
• At pedestrian crossings always remember that the pedestrian has the right of way.
• At the signal, do not stop your vehicle on the Pedestrian Crossing.
• Two-wheelers are meant only for two. Third person is not allowed, even children.
• Do not start your vehicle on the amber light. Wait for the light to turn green.
• Overtake only from the right side of a vehicle. Never overtake on bridges, narrow roads, junctions, school zones and pedestrian crossings.
• Do not drive in a zigzag manner.

Today’s Deccan Herald carries an advertisement by the NWKRTC (North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation) which calls in for request for proposals for Project Development of Bus Station & Commercial Complex on NWKRTC site at Belgaum.

 The project will be implemented by IL&FS IDC, which is the infrastructural wing of IL&FS serving a wide array of sectors throughout the country

 In the image, the projected image on the LEFT must be of the Belgaum bus station.

Sorry for the poor quality image.  

 Thanks Girish Hegade
Source: Deccan Herald

In accordance with the National Transportation Policy, The Karnataka Surface Transportation Directorate is preparing a comprehensive traffic and transportation project for six major cities, which includes Belgaum.

The project is envisaged to smoothen traffic in the upcoming tier-2 cities. 
The projected growth of these cities in the next 20 years is being taken into consideration while planning the project. The project would use the available land systematically, to help develop transportation facilities.  ICRI, a private firm, would take up survey work for the project in March.

Source: Deccan Herald

 Srinivas Ashok Dharoli (16), a student of the Jain College here, was killed in a road accident near Shagun Garden Khadarwadi Cross on Belgaum-Khanapur Road on Tuesday. He fell off the motorcycle he was riding after it skidded when he tried to avoid a cyclist. He suffered head injuries and died on the way to hospital. He survived by his father, two brothers, and one sister.

The worst part of this accident is that when he fell down on lookers did not have the humanity to pick him up and send to the hospital; instead, all were just seeing him die. His head had hit the handle and due to this, there was internal bleeding and heavy bleeding from his nose and mouth. When a group of Jain college students saw him then he was picked up and on his way to the hospital he died.

He was a very good student and a very good cricketer. Now that he no more, his parents and friends must be asking this question “IF HE WAS IMMEDIATELY TAKEN TO HOSPITAL HE COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED”

This is a rather sad scene all over India, whenever there is an accident no one tries to take the victim to hospital fearing the Police enquiries. This is some what true but this could happen to anyone and if at that time also no one comes up to Save Then What?

Right to Emergency care

The Supreme Court has ruled (Case No: Appeal (Civil) 919of 2007 Date of Judgment: 23-02-2007) that all injured persons especially in the case of road traffic accidents when brought to a Hospital have to be offered First Aid, stabilized & shifted to a Government center if required. It is only after this that the Hospital can demand for payment or complete police formalities. Incase you are a bystander and wish to help someone in an accident, please go ahead and do so. Your responsibility ends as soon as you leave the person at the hospital.
The hospital bears the responsibility of informing the police etc. 

An accident could happen to any one. It could be you one day. Lets make a promise “We will help anyone in a road accident by getting him to hospital and we will not be a bystander alone.”

See original Story on Tarun Bharat here
See original story on The Hindu here

RPD corner is the junction of RPD college road Deshmukh Road & Khanapur Road.

On any given day, corner (I would not call it a circle as it does not really have sufficient place) is buzzing with activity all day round. Young Turks keep on zooming up and down the Deshmukh Road for some sights. These young ones sometimes go zip zap zoom causing more trouble. There is heavy traffic on the main Khanapur Road. The signals installed never work, the day they worked all cursed it as the line went up to Govaves circle and Angol Cross.

This corner houses financial institutions (plenty of them), couple of banks, Grocery outlets like More, Reliance Fresh is coming up, Café Coffee day is there. (Sources have told me Axis Bank is planning to shift here somewhere).

There is no sufficient parking place in front of the said commercial complexes as all the basements are crammed up with generators and other stuff. One complex also holds residential houses so the parking is taken up the residents and the same building has More, CCD, HDFC life insurance, Airtel, Fortune Financial etc. So where do the visitors park. No doubt, there has been some parking space made available when the corporation removed the unauthorized compound walls all along the street. Nevertheless, that has not helped much.

City busses have a stop there at the corner only, which again causes many problems for easy movement of traffic. People waiting for the bus have their own dilemma as there is no proper bus stop and the buses halt at any place sometimes near the corner and some other while near ICICI bank.

The biggest problem I have found here, is the Entrance to the RPD college road is small as there are those tea stalls and shops round the corner and the road is hardly 20 feet wide there nor can it be made a one way also as there is no alternative road. In a month’s time, a Sarvajanik Ganpati Pandal will be set up at this site, which will add more spice to this problem.

So what should be done? Any suggestions. Do leave your comments.