Bengaluru commuters heading to their hometowns for the Dasara festivities faced severe traffic congestion on Friday evening, with some spending five to six hours on the road just trying to leave the city. Heavy rain added to the chaos, bringing traffic to a standstill on several major roads and leaving passengers stranded well past midnight.
Buses operated by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and private operators were also caught in the gridlock, with several passengers facing hours-long delays. As the congestion stretched into the early hours of Saturday, frustrated commuters took to social media to share their experiences. An Instagram user named Ashanth, a techie by profession, shared a video from a bus caught in the traffic jam. Even the next day is closer than my hometown right now. Rain worsened the situation. Bengaluru cannot take it anymore. Hope people choose smart cities like Surat, Ahmedabad, Gurgaon, etc. At Govardhan theatre, four of our passengers were waiting for hours for the pick-up.
“Started around 7.05 pm at Bellandur. Now it’s 12.15 am- the next day but still in Attibelle. Take a look here at his post: An X user also described the situation, writing, “Record traffic jam in Bengaluru during Dasara: Travellers stuck for around 6 hours on Mysore, Tumkur and Airport roads. Some were stuck until 3–4 am. However, it took us more than 3.5 hours to travel from Navarang theatre to Goraguntepalya as traffic came to a standstill. They were exhausted and kept calling repeatedly, worried they would miss the bus.” (Also read: AR Rahman gets stuck in Bengaluru traffic, fan shares video: ‘Even Oscar winner can’t escape’ ) A traffic police officer told the publication that 800–900 buses normally use the Yeshwantpur-Goraguntepalya stretch during weekends, but the number exceeds 2,500 during festivals and long weekends.
Took me 5 hours to see Bengaluru border,” the text overlaid on the video read. (Also read: Bengaluru founder takes 35 minutes for a 4 km journey, compares traffic acceptance to ‘Stockholm syndrome’ ) He captioned the clip, “Festive season at its best”. “It’s been more than an hour since I left Majestic, and I’m still stuck within a 2 km radius,” the user wrote, adding that their BMTC bus was trying alternative routes towards Hebbal without success. Check out the posts shared by commuters on social media here: According to a Times of India report, Tumakuru Road was among the worst-affected stretches. A KSRTC conductor operating on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru route said, “Our bus left Majestic almost on schedule.
“Traffic eased only around 2.30 am,” the officer said, citing rainfall, heavy traffic and inadequate bus bays as major contributors to the congestion.
