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Massive traffic jams across Bengaluru ahead of Deepavali, police alert commuters
Bengaluru sees surge in traffic during festival season
Bengaluru saw massive traffic jams on Friday and Saturday nights, ahead of the Deepavali festival. While scores of people are moving out of the city to celebrate the festival, many stepped out to go shopping and to meet relatives, causing tailbacks on key roads. Private vehicles and buses created a gridlock and hours of congestion in the tech capital.
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Places like Hosur Road, Mysuru Road, Krishnarajapuram and Bannerghatta saw unusual traffic snarls. The Bengaluru Police released multiple traffic advisories on Friday and Saturday to alert commuters about congestion.
In an X post, the police said, “Mysore Road, Satellite Bus Station has deployed extra buses due to Diwali festival, there could a possibility of traffic congestion on Mysore Road due to the departure of passengers to their hometowns, the public has been requested to travel by alternate road route.”
Some media reports suggested that an additional 1,000 buses and 50,000 private vehicles were on the road on Friday night. The police department even deployed extra force to manage the crowds at bus stops. As Karnataka shares a border with Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana and Maharashtra, the movement of large crowds is observed during the festivals.
The recent September 27 traffic jam in Bengaluru’s Outer Ring Road left a harrowing experience for the commuters as they took two to three hours to cover the distance which is less than five kilometres. The vehicular traffic was twice the normal for a regular day. Typically, normal days see a vehicle count of 150,000 to 200,000. However, on September 27, the number of vehicles on the road surged to a staggering 350,000 by 7.30pm.
