Bengaluru: A day after TOI reported that a Bengaluru-based businessman from Kerala died following a heart attack while he remained stuck in traffic for nearly an hour though the nearest hospital was just metres away, Karnataka govt has directed Bengaluru City police, public works department and infrastructure development department to take necessary action.The office of chief secretary Shalini Rajneesh took note of TOI’s Oct 8 report and issued a directive.The action followed after Haralur Road citizen-activist and ex-serviceman Jasjit Singh Gill wrote a letter to chief minister DK Shivakumar. Citing TOI’s report, Gill described death of KK Sajir as “extraordinarily harrowing”.Sajir was travelling in a car with a friend when he complained of severe chest pain while stuck on a flyover near Chandapura. He died waiting for the traffic to clear. The nearest hospital was right under the flyover.Gill said while Bengaluru is rapidly expanding its elevated network, numerous flyovers and expressways become traps during gridlocks, offering zero emergency escape. In his letter, he recommended a five-point formula that includes a proposal to integrate emergency lifts and stretcher stairwells and better inter-agency coordination protocols.“(Please) direct agencies like NHAI, K-Ride, BBMP, and traffic police to establish clear accountability protocols during ongoing construction work so that temporary bottlenecking does not completely immobilize emergency vehicles,” he wrote.The appeal was initially forwarded to the city police commissioner, who sent it to the Bengaluru Traffic Police. Asked what specific action would be taken, assistant commissioner of police (traffic planning) Prabhakara G did not offer comments.
