Bangalore University: 30-35 accidents on campus in two months, claim students; demand ban on traffic movement inside BU 

Following the horrific accident on the campus of Bangalore University yesterday, October 10, students of the campus claimed that this is not the first of such incidents. They are now demanding a complete ban on traffic movement inside the campus.

Yesterday, a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus ran over a first-year MSc student Shilpa, who was attempting to board the bus. Following this, two other students — Tilak and Ramanujalu — were injured in other minor accidents that occurred due to traffic movement inside the campus. “New speed bumps have been built on campus roads but they have not been marked with white paint. This makes it difficult for vehicles coming into the campus to see the bumps,” said Lokesh Ram, Vice-President of the BU Postgraduate and Research Scholars Union. Both students are undergoing treatment at Fortis Hospital in Bannerghatta Road.

Previous instances

Students of the University alleged that in the past two months, 30-35 accidents have been reported on campus which have claimed the lives of eight students. “One such student, Darshan, lost his life a few weeks ago in an accident due to incoming traffic on campus,” said Chandru Periyar, President of the BU Postgraduate and Research Scholars Association.

Students alleged that the speed bumps on campus were removed ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bengaluru. The New Indian Express earlier reported that the students had approached the university’s administration concerned about their safety while crossing roads due to the absence of speed bumps. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had tarred roads ahead of the PM’s visit and had promised to construct speed bumps soon, the students said.

However, with no progress in sight, the administration had written a letter to the BBMP Major Roads Division Executive Engineer on June 23, stating that at least three to four accidents had occurred due to reckless driving and urged the BBMP to take action regarding the same.

“Around four to five of them have been reinstalled, but the rest are just left like that. Even barricades were put up earlier to prevent accidents but those also have been removed,” said Chandru.

Reasons behind the accidents

Students claimed that the University allows vehicles from outside to enter the campus without any checks. “Other institutes follow a procedure where they enter details of vehicles coming in from outside campus but why doesn’t BU do that?” asked Lokesh. He also blamed the reckless driving of many of these vehicle owners for the multiple accidents.

Hence, students have been demanding the administration to free the campus from public access to vehicles.

Expert’s say

Meanwhile, experts say that there is no need for public transport buses to ply inside the campus. “There is a huge difference between a public road and a campus road. Drivers might not know how to drive carefully amidst the movement of students,” said Prof MN Sreehari, an expert on transportation and mobility-related issues.

The best solution would be for BU to introduce shuttle transport services that will take students from the entrance of the campus to other departments of the university and to nearby areas where students reside, he said.

Students took up a protest yesterday demanding restrictions on public entry into the campus. They plan to protest today as well. Several departments of the University will “shut their doors” today as a mark of protest. “The Vice-Chancellor will come to campus tomorrow and discuss with traffic officials and student unions as to what solutions can be brought in,” said Lokesh.