Bengaluru–Mysuru highway stretch to be closed for seven hours today

The district administration will close the 50-km stretch of the highway, being upgraded to National Highway 275, from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.

According to a communique from the Department of Information and Public Relations, vehicles from Bengaluru will not be allowed on the highway beyond T.B. Circle at Maddur. Commuters have to reach Mysuru by passing through Kala Muddana Doddi, Malavalli, and Bannur.

Those coming from Mysuru will be diverted at Karighatta junction. They can reach the highway via Arakere, Bannur, Malavalli and Kalamuddana Doddi, the release said.

However, it is advisable to directly reach Bannur from Mysuru, instead of going via Karighatta and Arakere, as it would be time-consuming.

Condemned

Meanwhile, the decision has been widely criticised by regular commuters. “Vehicle density on the highway is beyond capacity. Closing it for a private programme is condemnable. The diversion of vehicles will lead to traffic chaos on the highway and other roads,” Thimme Gowda, a businessman at Gandhi Nagar here, told The Hindu .

The driver of a KSRTC bus said the closure would likely make people miss their flights and trains from Bengaluru, besides worsening the traffic on other roads.