Bengaluru Police orders mall to close for next 15 days to ease traffic woes; netizens say 'a blot on city's image'

Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda has on Saturday instructed the administration of the recently inaugurated Phoenix Mall of Asia to cease operations for 15 days, from December 31 to January 15. This directive comes in response to the severe traffic congestions caused by the mall in the northern part of the Karnataka capital.

The police have identified inadequate parking facilities at the mall as a significant contributor to the city's traffic woes. Authorities are concerned about rising public inconvenience due to frequent gridlocks arising from the heavy influx of vehicles to the Mall.

As the New Year and subsequent long weekends approach, the officials anticipate heightened traffic snarls in the already congested Hebbal district. Dayananda revealed his personal visit to the mall confirmed its role as a focal point for the city's traffic problems.

Bengaluru's citizens said they could see this coming because the mall had inadequate parking and that has led to constant traffic jams in that area.

"A reflection of urban planning and approval process in the city," said one netizen on X platform (formerly Twitter).

The police have invoked sections 144(1) and 144(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure to restrict public access to Phoenix Mall of Asia, which was recently opened on International Airport Road, Bellari Road, Byatarayanapura, Yelahanka, from 10 am on December 31 to 11:59 pm on January 15, 2024.

"A blot on Bengaluru's investor friendly image. How many of the businesses inside the Mall would sue Phoenix for their losses and demand refund of rentals ? It's mind boggling to contemplate. The sheer wickedness of letting a monster grow and then chaining it," l̥amented another netizen.