Bengaluru's Outer Ring Road comes to a halt after BMTC bus breakdown

ORR/ PC: X/@Dhruvnk22

Bengaluru’s tech corridor, Outer Ring Road, witnessed heavy traffic on Tuesday evening after a BMTC bus broke down.

At 4:43 pm, Bengaluru Traffic Police posted an advisory on X, stating that due to a vehicle breakdown near Ecospace Junction towards Marathahalli, traffic was moving slowly at Kadubeesanahalli, Devarabisanahalli, and Bellandur.

Also, read: BlackBuck to move out of Bengaluru’s ORR, co-founder Rajesh Yabaji blames bad roads, traffic

Asked about the reason for the spike in traffic, Karthik Reddy, Joint Commissioner of Police (Bengaluru Traffic), Bengaluru, told Moneycontrol: “A BMTC bus breakdown and jammed wheels caused the traffic congestion.”

ORR is cooked. @TVMohandasPai came here for the sunset. Saw a real life red carpet. @DKShivakumar please build 2 tunnels- double decker😍. I hope the stupidity will resolve traffic issues.

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Count the number of BMTC buses. Count any PT ???@Tejasvi_Surya @PCMohanMP @ChristinMP_ pic.twitter.com/W2yvq4xada

— Dhruvnk (@Dhruvnk22) October 14, 2025

Several commuters on ORR said they were stuck in traffic for long hours. At 8:17pm, DCP (Bengaluru South Traffic) Gopal M Byakod wrote on X: “Traffic chaos on ORR sorted! 🚗💨 Traffic police and support team pushed a stuck BMTC bus to ease congestion #TrafficSorted #ORR #BengaluruTraffic.”

Some commuters even started walking to reach their destinations from their workplaces. Sheshagiri Deshpande wrote on X: “Due to extreme traffic near Brookfield Mall, we are forced to walk from Brookfield Mall to Seetharampalya station.”

Also, read:Karnataka CM writes to Azim Premji seeking Wipro campus access to ease ORR traffic

“Just one bus breaks down and the entire ORR comes to a halt - 5+ km of traffic jam! I’ve been stuck for 2 hours and haven’t even moved a kilometre. If this is all it takes to trigger chaos, what does that say about our infrastructure?” wrote X user @skammari23.

#ORR #Bengaluru #Traffic #Nightmare

10 kms. 1hr 40 minutes on ORR.

Unliveable city. Needs some serious intervention @DKShivakumar @siddaramaiah @CMofKarnataka pic.twitter.com/rScpN1qjCj

— Varun (@varun_vaithy) October 14, 2025

Echoing similar frustration, Prathibha Sastry urged companies located along ORR to reconsider forcing employees to work from office. “Please advise companies in ORR to stop forcing work from office till the roads are ready for this traffic. Stuck at Marathahalli for over an hour. This is exhausting and very, very bad for health,” she posted on X.

Also, read: Bengaluru’s Outer Ring Road at breaking point: Traffic woes, poor infra trigger outrage

According to officials, traffic is heaviest midweek, as many tech employees skip office on Mondays and Fridays to extend their weekends. Other reasons for the traffic jam include whitetopping, mid-week congestion, and closure of service roads.

Also, read: Back-to-office blues: Bengaluru's ORR tech parks see up to 45% rise in private vehicles; Wednesday most congested

ORR near HSR Layout was being diverted as the service road between 9th and 5th Main Roads is being closed for Namma Metro construction. Bengaluru traffic police said the closure, which began on October 6, 2025, set to last 45 days. Vehicles from Iblur Junction to Silk Board were advised to use the 14th Main Road flyover or HSR Layout’s internal roads to reach 5th Main Road and continue toward Silk Board and Hosur Main Road.

Also, read: Why Bengaluru Metro's Blue Line needs to be fast-tracked to ease tech capital’s traffic woes