Hundreds of Bengaluru students face trouble as traffic delays school buses during exams

Hundreds of schoolchildren travelling along Bengaluru’s Varthur-Gunjur stretch of SH-35 faced prolonged delays on Thursday as heavy traffic disrupted their journeys to and from school. School buses were delayed by up to 40 minutes in the morning, while some students were left stuck in traffic for hours during the return journey, as per TOI. One 4-km trip reportedly took 2.5 hours.

The stretch is home to around 18-20 major schools, several of which are currently conducting mid-term examinations. Parents told TOI that some children reached their exam halls anxious after school buses were delayed at pickup points and then became caught in severe congestion.

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School exams disrupted by traffic delays

The situation worsened during the evening commute, with several students taking up to an additional 1.5 hours to reach home. Some schools reportedly gave students extra time to complete their examinations after they were affected by the delays.

Parents said the prolonged congestion was particularly concerning because children were already under pressure due to their exams. Priti Singh, a resident of Candor Landmark Apartments, said the situation was difficult to understand given the area’s contribution to Bengaluru’s economy.

“It is unbelievable an area contributing significantly to the city’s economy continues to suffer from such poor infrastructure,” Singh said.

Residents flag damaged roads, bottlenecks

The Varthur-Gunjur corridor forms part of SH-35 and is currently undergoing infrastructure work being carried out by the Karnataka Road Development Corporation. Residents, however, said the ongoing work has not resolved several problems along the route.

They pointed to traffic bottlenecks, damaged stretches of road, large craters and a lack of effective traffic management, saying these conditions have made travel times increasingly unpredictable.

Pavitra Holla, another resident, said children were spending excessive amounts of time travelling between school and home.

“Today, some children took nearly 2.5 hours to cover just 4km from school. They are exhausted, parents are worried and there is no end in sight,” Holla said.

She also raised concerns over the condition of the roads, movement of heavy vehicles during school hours and what she described as inadequate traffic management and basic infrastructure.

“Children are forced to sit in dust and traffic for hours,” she said, adding that although congestion has affected the area for a long time, conditions had worsened over the previous two weeks.

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Parents abandon school buses amid delays

For some families, the delays became severe enough for parents to stop waiting for school buses and make the journey themselves.

Swati Kumari, a resident of Candor Landmark, said she waited for nearly 45 minutes for her son’s school bus before deciding to take him to school on a two-wheeler.

Kumari said her son’s school is less than 2 km from their home and that classes finish at around 2.45pm. However, she said he had been reaching home at about 4.30pm over the past month.

She added that even the two-wheeler journey offered little relief. “The scooter ride took me more than an hour to travel barely 1km,” she said.

Kumari also described the commute as unsafe, saying parents were increasingly concerned about putting young children on two-wheelers because of recent accidents and the poor condition of the road.