Bengaluru on Wednesday witnessed massive traffic jams ahead of a long weekend and bandh called by farmer bodies against the release of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu. Bengaluru's roads ground to a halt on Wednesday, with vehicles stranded for hours and many breaking down. The Outer Ring Road (ORR) bore the brunt of the congestion, with commuters reporting being stuck for over five hours.
Techies, office-goers, and even some school buses were caught in the gridlock on ORR for hours, with some parents complaining that their children reached home at night. Many users took to social media to share their tales of helplessness and frustration and blamed the city administration for the traffic chaos. One person shared how his friend had to walk almost 12 kilometers to reach home after he could not get a cab or autorickshaw.
An X user named Tushr wrote, ''My friend walked 12Kms back home in Bangalore today. He wasn't getting any cabs/autos/rapido or anything else. Quality of life even for top 1% after having all the means is only hitting lows & lows in this city.'' He also shared a screenshot of an app that showed his friend walked 11.87 km in 195 minutes.
See the tweet here:
The user also informed that his friend had gone to Manipal Hospital in HAL Old Airport Road for a medical checkup and had to walk back home which was located on the Sarjapur main road.
Reacting to his tweet, one user wrote, ''Unlike Hyderabad, I don't remember Bangalore roads were ever expanded. Like Chennai, one-way roads were also not planned. Knowing the highest Car to Road ratio, don't see any significant measures in Bangalore. Metro or NICE road or some other road alone won't solve the problem. They just take the additional traffic. Need more flyovers, free U-turns before every signal, and more.''
Another wrote, ''And I see people defending this city as if it's a matter of pride. Everyone should love their city/country but also should be aware of the limitations and problems. Because until then it won't improve.'' A third said, ''Look at the bright side. He managed to get some exercise.''
A fourth added, ''Most of these problems, can be solved if most companies go fully remote. Employees can meet once in a month or a quarter. At that time teams should do fun activities, meet with others and all.''
According to the traffic police department, multiple factors caused the traffic congestion in parts of the city. The traffic on Wednesday was twice more than on a normal day. Usually, the vehicle count on Wednesdays is 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh. However, on September 27, the vehicular count reached a whopping 3.5 lakh as of 7:30 p.m. In addition, rains have also caused waterlogging on interior roads, causing massive jams in several parts of the city.
