Due to Bengaluru shutdown on September 26, the traffic on roads was two times more than the normal vehicle count 
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Due to Bengaluru shutdown on September 26, the traffic on roads was two times more than the normal vehicle count Bengaluru, also known as India’s Silicon Valley, was on a halt on Wednesday as the metropolis reported serpentine traffic jams, leaving commuters stranded for hours on end. Parts of Bengaluru that reported massive traffic congestion include the metropolis’ tech corridor Outer Ring Road (ORR), Whitefield, Marathahalli, Mahadevapura, Belandur, and Sarjapur areas.
Of these, the ORR area was the worst hit as citizens were stuck for more than 4 hours and schoolchildren reached home at night. Traffic snarls were reported a day after the Bengaluru Bandh organised by pro-Kannada outfits and farmers unions. This bandh was called to protest the release of Cauvery river’s water to Tamil Nadu.
Bengaluru citizens were livid at the traffic management and the Siddaramaiah-led state government and shared their travails on X formerly Twitter. Former Infosys board member and corporate maven Mohandas Pai tagged Karnataka CM’s office, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar and questioned them on how long should people suffer.
“Massive traffic jam on Bengaluru’s Outer Ring Road; traffic police issues advisory to IT companies. Sir how long should people suffer. After 4 months of new government, there is no improvement,” Pai wrote in a post on X.
Another resident shared a message reportedly from the Joint Commissioner of Traffic, which laid down multiple factors for the horrid traffic situation in the IT capital of India. While sharing this statement and calling it “disgraceful”, the user said that his children returned home from school at 9 pm. He also said that authorities need to admit the fact that Bengaluru’s public transport, roads, drainage and city planning cut quite the sorry figure instead of making excuses.
Another user shared the ordeal faced by Bengaluru residents while commuting from the ORR-Bellandur-Marathahalli-Whitefield-Mahadevapura belt. Singh also said that he believes companies insisting on 100 per cent work from office should take a lesson and leave Bengaluru.
He added that some schoolchildren came to home at 8 pm, while adding kids deserve better than this. “Spoke to a lot of folks in the ORR-Bellandur-Marathahalli-Whitefield-Mahadevapura belt. Everyone agrees that today’s traffic pile up is the worst ever they’ve faced. Ever. Take a bow @blrcitytraffic @siddaramaiah—you’ve made a record today!” Singh said.
“Will any of the ORRCA companies apologise for making what the city is. Stop further rampant growth. Prestige, Embassy, RMZ will sell - that’s their business. But why do you companies lease in the middle of such a mess,” he further wrote.
“Work from office is a big joke in Bengaluru if company asks you to come to office on regular basis, 13 kms= 2+ hour minimum travel. And most of the IT companies are in this route,” a user said while sharing a screenshot of Google Maps location tracking from NH-75 to Adarsh Palm Retreat.
"Extremely extremely bad traffic in BLR ORR today evening… my cars mileage dropped from Kilometres per Litre to Litres per Kilometre… I have covered 7 KMs in 2 Hrs so far from Whitefield to Marathahalli and got 5 more KMs to cover… :( #ORRCA," another user wrote.
Due to Bengaluru shutdown on September 26, the traffic on roads was two times more than the normal vehicle count, which was supposed to be around 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh.
Around 3.59 lakh vehicles, however, plied on Wednesday at 7:30 pm, according to an IBI traffic report. Long weekend, rains, waterlogging, and Ganesh Visarjan processions in several parts of the city also exacerbated the traffic situation in Bengaluru. Rains and waterlogging caused several vehicle breakdowns between 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm too.
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