Mysuru: The demand for a service road and a traffic signal near Varuna lake on T Narasipur–Mysuru Road in the chief minister’s Varuna assembly segment has intensified, following a rise in accidents and fatalities on the stretch.Varuna Junction on the Mysuru–T Narasipura Road has become a black spot due to a surge in vehicular traffic. In the past year, seven accidents were reported here, claiming two lives and injuring several others.
About 4,000–5,000 vehicles use the NH-766 stretch daily, passing through this junction. Varuna junction connects three roads leading to Suttur—one of the state’s prominent religious centres—as well as T Narasipura, Kollegal, Hanur and MM Hills. The highway also links travellers headed toward Tamil Nadu and Kerala.Lack of traffic signals, delays in constructing service roads and road humps, and the absence of accident-prone display boards have been cited as the major causes of accidents. Vehicles from Suttur, T Narasipur and Mysuru converge at this intersection.With authorities failing to construct bus shelters either at the Varuna village entry point or at the junction, commuters waiting or alighting on the roadside have also been involved in accidents, said garment factory worker Uma from Varuna.Varuna police station SI Sadashiva Thippareddy said that although both the police and the district road transport authority identified the junction as a black spot and recommended that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) implement safety measures, no work has begun. “Though police laid blinkers, accidents continued,” he said.Congress leader Varuna Mahesh said residents have repeatedly petitioned the police and district administration for a service road parallel to the Varuna Tank bund, a bus shelter, and the installation of traffic signals and other safety measures, given the rise in accidents.Assistant engineer (NHAI) Koushik said that as the junction connects travellers from three different directions, accidents have been recurring. He said the authority will prepare an action plan for another service road and initiate work on a bus shelter, road humps and other safety measures.
