After protests over accident on campus, Bangalore University agrees to ramp up safety

A student sustained grievous injuries after she was run over by a BMTC bus inside the Bangalore University campus, sparking protests by students who demanded more safety measures.
Students protesting at the Bangalore University Jnanabharati campus
Students protesting at the Bangalore University Jnanabharati campus

Massive protests erupted at the Bangalore University Jnanabharati campus after a student sustained grievous injuries after she was run over by a city bus on campus on Tuesday, October 11. After protests demanding action against the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) were staged on Tuesday, student organisations met with university officials and traffic police to come up with solutions to prevent further accidents on campus.

Speaking to the media, university Vice Chancellor Dr Jayakara SM said, “We have held a meeting with all stakeholders about the accident that occurred inside the campus and how this can be prevented in the future.  We were discussing short-term, medium-term and long term measures. We want to regulate vehicle speeds on campus and we will bring in barricades and humps to achieve this immediately.” He added that the university aims to monitor the traffic situation inside campus regularly, and that steps are being taken towards the same.

Officials also said that short-term measures such as reinstalling of speed bumps, installing street lights, putting up barricades and installing sensor cameras to record entry and exit to and from campus have been taken into consideration and will be implemented soon. Further, officials said that soon, civilian vehicles will only be able to pass through campus between 6 am and 8 pm. DCP Traffic West, Kuldeep Jain, also said that the measures discussed during the meeting will also be brought to the attention of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and other concerned authorities, including the BMTC. Laxman Nimbargi, DCP West, also said that CCTV cameras will be installed across the campus and that regular traffic rules like use of helmets, will be enforced within the campus from Thursday, October 13.

On Tuesday, Shilpashree, a postgraduate student in the university’s mathematics department sustained grievous injuries after she was run over by a BMTC bus inside campus. According to eyewitnesses, she was trying to board the bus when the driver allegedly failed to notice her and moved ahead, causing her to come under the bus’s wheels. Her condition is critical and she is currently undergoing treatment, police officials said. The bus driver has been detained on charges of negligence.

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