Bengaluru traffic on the Varthur-Gunjur stretch of SH-35 left hundreds of schoolchildren delayed for hours on Thursday, with a 4km journey taking as long as 2.5 hours amid roadworks, damaged surfaces, bottlenecks and unmanaged traffic. The disruption came as 18 to 20 large schools in the corridor were conducting mid-term examinations.
School buses were delayed by up to 40 minutes during the morning commute, according to parents cited by the Times of India. Several children reportedly reached examination halls anxious after arriving late at pickup points and then being caught in gridlocked traffic. In the evening, some students took up to an additional 1.5 hours to return home.
Some schools accommodated affected students by giving them extra time to complete their examinations. Parents said the delays had become particularly difficult because school timings coincided with heavy traffic and ongoing infrastructure work on the corridor.
The Varthur-Gunjur stretch forms part of SH-35, where infrastructure works are being executed by the Karnataka Road Development Corporation. Residents said the road continues to face bottlenecks, damaged surfaces and large craters, while traffic management remains inadequate. They also raised concerns about heavy vehicles moving through the area during school hours.
Priti Singh, a resident of Candor Landmark Apartments, said the condition of the corridor was especially troubling because schools were holding examinations. “It is unbelievable an area contributing significantly to the city’s economy continues to suffer from such poor infrastructure,” she said, according to the report.
Another resident, Pavitra Holla, said children were spending more time in traffic than in classrooms. She said some students took nearly 2.5 hours to cover 4km and were left sitting in dust and traffic for extended periods. Holla added that congestion had been a long-standing problem, but residents felt conditions had deteriorated over the past two weeks.
The disruption also prompted some parents to abandon school buses and attempt the journey themselves. Swati Kumari said she waited nearly 45 minutes for her son’s school bus before taking him on a two-wheeler. Although his school is less than 2km from home and ends at 2.45pm, she said he had been reaching home around 4.30pm in the past month. The scooter journey took more than an hour to cover barely 1km.
Kumari described the commute as unsafe and said parents were increasingly worried about putting young children on two-wheelers because of recent accidents and the poor condition of the road. The immediate disruption has placed renewed attention on the effect of delayed road works and weak traffic coordination on school access along one of Bengaluru’s rapidly developing residential and educational corridors.
