How Karnataka is a haven for bike riders on Bandh days

Ask a bike rider about how he feels about a bandh in Karnataka and you would be surprised. Unlike the usual complaint of shops being closed and emergency services being hampered, one can see the bike rider's smiling.

A bandh day may mean a lot of different things to different people-holiday, cricket on the streets and a cool-off day, but bikers believe it is a 'road to heaven'.

True, that most of the accidents on the roads are caused by bikers, but the other cautious ones feel happy there are no predators lurking on the roads in the form of BMTC, KSRTC buses.

"A busy day on Bengaluru roads will take you 45 minutes or an hour and half to travel from Old Madras Road to Jayanagar 3rd Block where my office is, but things are different on a bandh day.

You can reach in just half an hour," said Aishwarya, a journalist who has to travel a lot in the city.

[Read: Bengaluru to be paralysed, yet again; Karnataka bandh likely on Sept 26]

Agrees Vinita and says,"on a bandh day, we actually get to know who are the real culprits for traffic jams in the city.

The BMTC and the KSRTC buses do not mend their ways when they are plying on the roads. They stand in the middle of the road and pick up passengers, break down in the middle of the road, causing traffic roadblocks."

Praveen is a photojournalist and he speaks of speed and his bike ride.

"On a normal day, I cannot ride my bike above 30 km per hour, thanks to the traffic jams and the 'beautiful' roads that we have here. But, my bike comes to life when the roads are empty. I am a safe rider, but it feels AWESOME!"

A ride in the city on these days would justify why the above-mentioned are happy. Joggers jog without the fear of being mowed down by a speeding truck, the traffic police guards too are a little relaxed.

"We have to be on our toes all the time. Accidents are incessant and overspeeding is unavoidable," said a guard standing at the Lalbagh signal.

The police was seen trolling the streets, but there was nothing to worry about.

However, there were rumours that there were protests in KR Market and Majestic, which did not affect the rest of the city.

An all-Karnataka bandh was called by the Federation of Pro-Kannada Organisations for the demands for implementing a portable water project.

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