Bengaluru: Thousands of commuters, including those heading out of town for the weekend to resorts in Kodagu, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, had a harrowing time on the Bengaluru-Mysuru National Highway 275 on Friday as the stretch between Maddur and Srirangapatna was closed for seven long hours due to a political jamboree of the Janata Dal (Secular) addressed by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.
The Mandya district administration had announced the closure of the 50-km stretch of the highway from 2 pm to 9 pm for the event which was held to thank the people of Mandya district for the victory of JD(S) candidates in all its seven assembly constituencies. With the function organised at the Sir M Visvesraiaah District stadium in the heart of Mandya city, the police stopped all vehicles from Bengaluru on the highway beyond TB Cross Circle at Maddur.
The district administration claimed the closure was necessary to prevent chaos on the highway as a lakh people were expected to participate in the rally from different parts of Mandya and special vehicles had been arranged to ferry workers to the event. Hundreds of people heading for Mysuru, Ooty, Kodagu and Kerala were stranded in a traffic jam at several places. And those who set out in the afternoon took five to six hours to reach Mysuru.
Mr Brijesh, a software engineer from Bengaluru, was struck on the alternative road due through which traffic was diverted due to the mad rush of vehicles. He was on his way to spend a couple of days at a resort in Kodagu district and expected to reach it only late in the evening due to the crawling traffic. "It is a nightmare driving on this narrow road. What stops political parties from holding rallies away from the national highways? What they are going to achieve by inconveniencing people?" he demanded angrily.
Pointing out that several families were heading for Kodagu, Tamil Nadu and Kerala to spend the weekend with their families, Mr Pranesh of Bengaluru said the Chief Minister should have instructed his party leaders to keep the highway free. Coming down hard on the government for the inconvenience caused to the people, BJP MLA, S A Ramadas, BJP MLA said closing the highway for seven hours was unacceptable. " Hundreds of ambulances carrying patients ply between Mysuru and Bengaluru and imagine their plight if they were caught in a traffic jam like this," he added. The BJP leader also noted that Friday being the first 'Ashada Shukravara', thousands of devotees from Bengaluru, Chikkaballapur, Doddaballapur, Tumkuru were heading for Mysuru for a darshan of goddess Chamundeshwari. “With the highway closed, they are being greatly inconvenienced," he lamented.
