‘Work from Road’: Frustrated locals declare new trend in India’s Bengaluru

The Indian state of Karnataka’s capital city of Bengaluru is infamous for traffic jams that last hours. However, with urban growth and the city becoming the new IT hub of the country, it is now home to offices of several big companies which have created an influx of people from across India and abroad.

What happened?

While hours-long traffic jams, given the rapid increase in the population of the city and the immense pressure created on its infrastructure, are not uncommonbut it was this one particular Tuesday morning rush hour that got on everyone’s nerves. Several people, who were on their way to work, claimed that they were forced to leave their vehicles in the middle of the road and even go back home.

Sometime later,the Bengaluru City Traffic Police took to Twitter and reported that a truck collision caused the massive tree to fall on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and asked civilians to take an alternative route until the sluggish traffic problem was resolved.

“Slow moving traffic due to a HTV breakdown in service road from 27th main towards Ibbalur. It will be moved shortly. Kindly co-operate,” the city’s traffic police wrote on Twitter.

Additionally, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Sujeetha Salman also took to the social media platform and explained the situation.

“A truck hit a tree near the military gate of the service road near Ibbalur on the Outer Ring Road and the tree fell down causing traffic congestion, the motorists coming from Silk Board towards Ibbulur Junction are hereby requested to move on an alternate road route.”

How did the people react?

In the midst of this chaos, many frustrated locals took to social media and complained about the city’s broken traffic management system.

One user wrote, “Congratulations @blrcitytraffic for this massive traffic mismanagement… its been 3 hours… stuck near Silk board Worst traffic this far. High time that IT cos. and Tech startups start looking for alternative cities. #Bengaluru #bangaloretraffic”.

While another frustrated local wrote, “If traffic police concentrate on traffic management rather than hiding behind trees or pillars to collect fines, these types of cases would not occur.”

Meanwhile, others expressed their disappointment at how this could be the new normal for the city. “I am surprised how getting stuck in immovable traffic for over 150 mins to cover a 15-18 km distance is considered normal in Bangalore. We get accustomed easily, I guess. Just sad!”

‘Work from Road’

One user “thanked” the traffic and wrote about how they got so much done, “Thanks Silk board traffic! Completed pending work, made some calls, did my meditation, Emptied downloads and recycle bin folders. And now thinking what else can I do stuck in this traffic. 1hr journey from Bommanahalli to Silk board signal.”

Meanwhile, a user shared a picture, which has since gone viral,showinga woman working on a Rapido bike, on her way to the office. This shot was reportedly taken along the Koramangala-Agara-Outer Ring Road which was referred to as a “Peak Bangalore moment,” as the image highlights the hustle culture of India’s Silicon Valley.

Days after the incident, one user also shared the following meme, "Future Bengaluru - WFR (Work from Road)"

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