Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Mohandas Pai express concern over continuing traffic congestion

Bengaluru: Bengaluru's civic authorities in Karnataka have come under fire after reports surfaced this week that some students in the Panathur neighbourhood of the city were forced to leave class and return home because of prolonged traffic congestion. Even a candlelight protest against the incident was held by neighbourhood residents and students. A Twitter user going under the name 'BELAGARE Citizens Voice #WIDEN P-S-Cross#' first made the matter public.

"The apathy is causing serious hardships to #Balagere citizens, a never ending suffering. Is this Civic/ Civil. this clarification reqd from our beloved leaders of this #PanathurBalagere stretch. Today's saga where Traffic, commuters, Kids, and school buses were found in shambles!," wrote the Twitter handle. Kiran Mazumadar-Shaw, the Chief of Biocon, and Mohandas Pai, the chairman of Manipal Global Education, soon became concerned about the issue. The Panathur RUB intersection has a reputation for being congested, and locals have repeatedly asked for the road to be widened. The protest's video was also posted by a nearby neighbour, and Mohandas Pai took it up, adding, "State of our roads, @narendramodi Sir pl help!"

"Is there hope at all in Bengaluru? What are the police doing to clear traffic? They have the tech!" tweeted Pai. 'Do the authorities even care? Citizens will have to keep shaming them into action. When we say authorities it's the ground-level officials - you can't blame politicians. The contractors need to be held accountable by authorities but they don't," posted Shaw.

The bleak truth of Balagere roads was highlighted by a number of other Bengaluru locals. "Balagere road is a nightmare and that it takes two hours to travel five kilometres," tweeted a user.