Bengaluru: Sixty thousand people flocked to two wedding receptions of politicians’ children at Palace Grounds Thursday evening, reducing traffic on Ballari Road to a crawl till late night.
Vehicles of guests arriving for the receptions — one of Congress minister Byrathi Suresh’s son and BJP’s Yelahanka MLA SR Vishwanath’s daughter and another from the family of a minority leader — choked Ballari Road traffic in both directions.
Bumper-to-bumper crawl on the national highway from Hebbal flyover to High Grounds Junction began around 7pm. The situation was so bad motorists took at least one hour to cover a 1km distance.
Airport-bound passengers were the worst hit; the situation was exacerbated as several flights had been shifted to the evening following Aero India rehearsals at Yelahanka Air Force Station in the afternoon. “The situation doesn’t end here. The marriage of Byrathi Suresh’s son is on Friday, and again there will be a huge rush during the day. On Sunday, ‘Beegara Oota’ will be held at the same venue at night, and we fear the problem will recur,” another police officer said.
The spillover effect was felt at IISc Junction on CV Raman Road, Malleswaram 18th Cross, Race Course Road Junction, Chalukya Circle, and surrounding roads. “At least 40,000 guests were expected for the marriages. But the actual number was more than 60,000,” a traffic cop said.
While the entrance to the two wedding venues were provided from Ballari Road, the exits were on Jayamahal Road side. Vehicles of guests coming from the city clogged Mehkri Circle where they had to take a U-turn.
Serial accident brings traffic to halt on E-City expressway
A serial accident on Electronics City elevated expressway Thursday evening brought traffic to a halt for almost 30 minutes. The incident — involving an SUV (Toyota Qualis), two electric cars and four other cars — happened near Hosa Road on the flyover around 6.30pm.
The accident occurred when one of the vehicles moving towards Hosur in Tamil Nadu applied brakes suddenly. According to traffic police, all seven vehicles involved in the accident were damaged. A few persons travelling in the cars sustained injuries and were rushed to Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital.