There are questions about the continued closure of the Yelahanka underpass road in Bengaluru, even though white-topping work was completed on the Yelahanka underpass road last week. The long-term closure of the Yelahanka underpass road has become a matter of public concern after the hospital emergency services were unable to access the vehicle and were forced to take an alternate route to the hospital for the injured child, after there were accusations that a child who was injured in an ambulance was prevented from entering the tunnel and ordered to take a different route.
The underpass has been closed to vehicles for nearly a year because of the white topping project, according to local inhabitants. Construction work is said to have been completed, but the road has not been reopened for public use, so daily commuters and residents living in the area still have to deal with it.
The controversy was only compounded by news that an ambulance transporting a nine-year-old child who had been injured in a car accident was not allowed to pass through the underpass. Police officers at the barricades forced the ambulance to take a different route rather than pass through the restricted route, the report said.
Residents have expressed concern that emergency vehicles should take precedence in a road traffic accident. Each minute is critical in medical emergencies, and delay could mean patients going to the hospital in life-threatening situations, they said.
There are also accusations from residents that although the road is closed to the public, barricades are sometimes opened to allow politicians and other VIPs to move on at night. Those claims have created some local criticism, with one wondering why emergency services and regular commuters are not allowed to go through, and there are even exceptions for VIPs.
The reported diversion of the ambulance has only intensified the calls for the authorities to review the traffic restrictions on the road. Citizens say emergencies happen every day and that access for ambulances, fire services, and other emergency response vehicles should never be restricted.
Motorists have also reported more travel time due to the closure. The diversion means commuters will have to take longer routes, so roads get stuck in traffic, and they use more fuel, and the traffic congestion in the surrounding roads and delays in traffic during peak times of the day also increase.
Urban planning experts say although road closures are often needed for infrastructure projects, authorities should ensure that completed roads are reopened without unnecessary delays, and that emergency vehicles are allowed unrestricted access, no matter how much construction is going on or how much security is put in place.
The incident has led to a call on the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bengaluru Traffic Police, and other departments to explain why the underpass is still closed when the white topping work has been completed.
Residents are also calling for transparency on the status of the project, why in practice it has been held up, and the official procedure used to allow or deny emergency vehicles.
As public worry grows, many are calling for civic authorities to reopen the road at the earliest as soon as possible and ensure that ambulances and emergency services are never delayed by traffic barricades. So far, no official response from the authorities in the area is forthcoming as to why the ambulance diversion and the underpass have not reopened.
