Bengaluru faced severe traffic congestion on key outbound routes as thousands of residents travelled to their hometowns for the Dasara festival, with rain worsening delays on Friday night and Saturday. Long queues were reported on the city’s major roads, flyovers, railway stations and bus terminals.
According to a report by Prajavani, traffic remained heavy from Friday evening until late at night and continued through Saturday. Motorists struggled to move forward as vehicles formed extended queues on the Tumakuru Road corridor, from Goraguntepalya to Nagasandra and onward towards Nelamangala.
The Mysuru Road corridor also witnessed prolonged congestion. Vehicles travelling towards Mysuru took considerable time to reach the expressway. Traffic queues were reported on the Peenya flyover, while the area around Majestic saw heavy congestion on Saturday night. Hosur Road and Ballari Road also experienced increased traffic because of the large number of private cars and two-wheelers heading out of the city.
The congestion coincided with a major seasonal movement of passengers towards destinations including Dharmasthala, Udupi, Mangaluru, Horanadu and Sringeri. Prajavani reported heavy crowds at the city railway station, Shantinagar bus station and Yeshwanthpur railway station. Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses and private buses were packed with passengers travelling to different cities.
The KSRTC had arranged special services for the Dasara period. These included Karnataka Sarige, Rajahamsa, sleeper services, Airavat, Airavat Club Class multi-axle buses, EV Power Plus, Ambari Club Class, Ambari Utsav and Pallakki services. The additional services were deployed as passenger numbers rose on routes connecting Bengaluru with other parts of Karnataka.
Rain that began on Saturday evening further affected movement. Although the rainfall was not described as particularly heavy, waterlogging on some roads made travel more difficult for motorists. Drizzle continued until late at night, adding to the disruption on already crowded routes.
The combination of festival travel, private vehicle use, bus and railway station crowding and rain placed simultaneous pressure on Bengaluru’s road and public transport networks. Prajavani reported that millions of people travelled towards their hometowns in cars and two-wheelers on Friday and Saturday nights. Police worked to manage the flow of vehicles, while security arrangements were strengthened at railway and bus stations.
The report did not provide traffic police travel-time figures, diversion details or a breakdown of the number of additional buses and trains operated during the period.
