Schoolchildren faced severe traffic delays on the Varthur-Gunjur stretch.
BENGALURU: Hundreds of school-children commuting along the Varthur-Gunjur stretch of SH-35 endured a harrowing Thursday as severe traffic congestion delayed school buses by up to 40 minutes in the morning and left students stranded on roads for hours while returning home. A 4km drive took 2.5 hours, stuck mostly in traffic. The stretch hosts 18-20 big schools, with many conducting mid-term examinations. “Today, some children took nearly 2.5 hours to cover just 4km from school. Swati Kumari, another resident of Candor Landmark, said she waited nearly 45 minutes for her son’s school bus before deciding to take him on a two-wheeler. Though his school ends by 2.45pm, he’s been reaching home around 4.30pm in the past month.
Parents told TOI children reached exam halls anxious after school buses arrived late at pickup points and were subsequently caught in gridlocked traffic. Another resident, Pavitra Holla, said children were spending more time in traffic than in classrooms. Children are forced to sit in dust and traffic for hours,” she said. The scooter ride took me more than an hour to travel barely 1km,” she said.
They are exhausted, parents are worried and there is no end in sight. There are no proper roads, heavy vehicles move during school hours, traffic management is absent and basic infrastructure is missing. Holla added that while congestion has been a long-standing issue in the area, conditions have deteriorated in the past two weeks. For some parents, the situation left them with little choice but to abandon school buses and attempt the journey themselves. “My son studies in a school less than 2km away from home.