CM Bommai instructs officials to take steps to reduce traffic congestion in Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Jun 25: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday instructed the officials to take measures to reduce traffic congestion at 10 prominent spots in the city including Hebbal, Mahadevapura Outer Ring Road, Silk Board Junction and Whitefield Road, which witness huge traffic jams.
The Chief Minister wants the works to be supervised by Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) of the concerned area.
The measures would include synchronisation of traffic signals and removing the obstacles for smooth flow of vehicular traffic.
Instructing officials to clear the encroachments on arterial, sub-arterial and high density roads without showing any leniency and submit a report on the actions taken, he said, "I will again hold zone-wise meetings to review the actions taken."
Bommai chaired a meeting on traffic management in Bengaluru with officials of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), Urban Development, Police and other departments.
He asked the officials of BBMP, BWSSB, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) and Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd (BESCOM) to work in coordination under the overall supervision of Additional Chief Secretaries of Urban Development and Home departments to formulate measures for easing traffic congestion in the city.
The Chief Minister issued strict orders for filling the potholes on roads connecting the national highways and taking up immediate repair work at about 50 spots that witness flooding whenever it rains, the CMO said in a release.
Asking officials to start the work on signal synchronisation in central business district (CBD), high traffic density corridors in the city, Bommai said the problem caused by frequent digging of roads by various civic agencies like BWSSB and BMRCL, leaving the debris without covering the dug-up roads also came up for discussion.
He also asked for the dug up roads to be re-laid properly and debris cleared immediately.
The Chief Minister asked DGP Praveen Sood to raise the strength of the Traffic Police personnel and focus on measures to ease traffic congestion, and the need to install cameras at traffic junctions under the Nirbhaya scheme was also stressed.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
SC asks states to treat rising child trafficking cases as grave; seeks coordinated action
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has voiced grave concern over rising cases of child trafficking, saying gangs are operating across the country and if States and Union territories do not take immediate action, thing will go beyond control.
The court said only the state government and its home department can act vigilantly in this regard.
“As a court we can monitor, but ultimately the action has to be on the part of the state government, the police, and other agencies. Therefore, this is our humble request”, a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan said during the hearing of a plea on Wednesday.
The bench was irked over the "lackadaisical" approach of several states and UTs in implementing a 2025 judgment aimed at dismantling organised trafficking networks.
Justice Viswanathan said the retrieval of children in some cases proves the problem can be tackled, but it requires a level of political and administrative will which is lacking at present.
The verdict, delivered on April 15, 2025, had mandated several institutional reforms, including completion of trials in trafficking cases within six months on a day-to-day basis.
It had also directed strengthening of Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) and improving investigation standards.
Besides asking for setting up of state-level committees to monitor vulnerable trafficking hotspots, it had asked the authorities to treat missing children cases as trafficking unless proven otherwise.
Earlier, the bench had termed the compliance reports filed by a few states as "nothing but an eye wash."
On Wednesday, the bench noted that Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, and Punjab had still failed to file reports in the prescribed format.
When the home secretary of Madhya Pradesh offered an apology for the lapse, the bench granted a "final opportunity" but warned that continued failure would lead to states being officially branded as "defaulting".
The bench noted that at least 15 states are yet to constitute review committees mandated to identify and monitor trafficking-prone areas.
The matter will now be heard on April 29.
