Bengaluru: Restricted access on Sarjapur Main Road hits businesses

Businesses along the Sarjapur main road near the Agara lake have been suffering since January after the traffic police cut off access during the peak hours. This arrangement has been implemented to manage congestion in the area.

The road sees heavy traffic on a daily basis because it connects Madiwala and Koramangala to Marathahalli and Sarjapur, among other places. This situation has only been exacerbated by the ongoing metro work that has eaten into the road space.

The traffic police barricaded the road beyond Jakkasandra junction during peak hours. Since then, vehicles heading in that direction are forced to take a right onto the 14th main road to connect to the Outer Ring Road to join Sarjapur main road at the Agara exit.

Nevertheless, a cluster of businesses situated along that particular stretch of road has been grappling with the challenge of retaining their customers due to restricted access. Due to the barricading, their customers are forced to take a circuitous trip around Agara Lake and head to their offices. 

Vishwas Reddy, managing director of a car servicing company Carsmith Motors, noted that his business has taken a huge blow. "My revenue since the beginning of this year has been cut down by nearly 50% because customers have found it difficult to navigate around this blocked road," he said.

Naveen S, senior operations manager at the Propel Auto LPG gas station, said that they are spending huge sums of money to pay rent and salaries but are suffering losses due to falling customers. 

“We have 33 employees but they're all planning to go home because of lack of work,” said Suhail, who runs a CNG station near the Agara exit. 

Sujeetha Salman, DCP (Traffic-South), said that barricading the road during peak hours was necessary to avoid congestion down the road.

“Several lanes of traffic merge at a single point at Agara — the fallout of which is experienced till Silk Board. Traffic police close the road during peak hours. It is also closed when they notice increasing traffic that could trigger more congestion,” she said. 

She has, however, assured exploring additional solutions if local businesses and residents could bring to her notice how they are affected by this decision.

“We have also submitted a proposal to the BMTC to shift the bus stop further from the junction point so congestion is reduced,” she added.