Mangaluru: Peak festive traffic over the long weekend delayed several buses on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru route by up to three hours, with congestion reported on the Yeshwanthpur-Nelamangala stretch as buses exited Bengaluru and on the Shiradi Ghat section.A senior KSRTC official from the Mangaluru division told TOI that the division operated additional services to manage the festive rush. The division ran 50 buses from Bengaluru on Sept 11 and another 33 on Sept 12, with the same vehicles used for return services. The additional services covered the Mangaluru, Udupi and Kundapur depots.The official said buses travelling towards Mangaluru were delayed by around 30 minutes to one hour due to traffic blocks in Bengaluru and Shiradi Ghat. He said the bottlenecks occur due to the high density of private and public vehicles, especially during the festive season.Private bus operator Sadanand Chatra said some services were delayed by two to three hours on Sept 11. The delay was worse on Sept 11 and eased slightly on Sept 12. A bus operated by his company, which left Bengaluru around 9pm, reached Mangaluru only around noon the following day.“It is not just buses; the number of private vehicles also increases during long weekends,” Chatra said, attributing the rush partly to the holiday on Monday. He added that passengers often contacted operators to track delayed buses.Passenger Sharath, who travelled to Mangaluru on Sept 11, said he left Bengaluru around 8pm but faced a delay of nearly three hours. Traffic was particularly heavy between Yeshwanthpur and Nelamangala, while toll plazas were also congested, he said.Reena, an IT employee who travelled to Mangaluru on the night of Sept 11, said train bookings had become difficult and that bus fares and availability were also a concern. She said she had planned to book trains for the Dasara and Diwali holidays but found that services were already full, with long waiting lists.Sudheer, who travelled by car on the morning of Sept 12, said traffic density was high from early in the day. He avoided Shiradi Ghat and took the Charmadi Ghat route, which helped him reach Mangaluru earlier as traffic was heavier on the Shiradi stretch.Ayush Jain, Karnataka Bus Owners Association member, said a vehicle breakdown had blocked a section of Shiradi Ghat, while heavy traffic was reported on the outskirts of Bengaluru.“The number of private vehicles increases during long weekends, adding to congestion. Unlike govt operators, private bus operators rarely operate additional services,” he said.
