Bengaluru faced massive traffic on Wednesday, with vehicles stuck on roads for hours, many of which faced breakdowns. The Outer Ring Road (ORR) area of the city was the worst hit, as people complained that they had been stuck there for over five hours.
The development came a day after the Bengaluru bandh, called by ‘Karnataka Jala Samrakshana Samiti’, an umbrella outfit of farmers and Kannada organisations. The bandh was called to protest against the release of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu.
In perhaps the most defining moment of the day, South African comedian Trevor Noah show in the city had to be cancelled due to poor acoustics after hundreds of fans reached the venue several hours late.
ORR being Bengaluru’s tech corridor, techies were perhaps the worst-affected by the jam. In view of the unusual congestion, traffic police issued an advisory asking IT companies to delay logout time for their employees.
Those who were stuck in traffic took to social media to vent their frustration, with many saying their vehicles moved barely an inch in three to four hours.
Bengaluru Traffic Police offered five reasons for the jam – double volume of vehicles after the bandh, upcoming long weekend, waterlogged roads due to rain, potholes on the road and vehicle breakdowns.
The traffic was twice more than the usual vehicle count, which was supposed to be between 1.5 to 2 lakh. However, 3.59 lakh vehicles plied today by 7:30 pm, according to the IBI traffic report.
However, driving away the frustration, many even ordered pizzas/food delivery via apps in traffic itself to have dinner on road because why not?