NATIONAL: Bengaluru Traffic Woes: MP Blasts Officials
Bengaluru’s notorious traffic snarl-ups have long tested the patience of residents, but a recent outburst from a visiting lawmaker has amplified the chorus of discontent.
Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Rai, en route to catch a flight for Parliament’s Winter Session, found himself mired in gridlock on Rajkumar Samadhi Road for over an hour on November 30, 2025.
His public frustration underscores a deepening crisis in India’s Silicon Valley, where daily commutes rival endurance challenges.
This episode arrives amid a wave of high-profile critiques, spotlighting systemic failures in urban planning and enforcement.
As the city’s vehicle count surges past 12 million, experts warn that without bold interventions, Bengaluru risks losing its edge as a global tech hub.
MP’s Harrowing Commute Sparks Outrage
Rai, representing Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh, shared his ordeal on X, tagging Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and top police officials.
He described futile attempts to reach traffic helplines, attaching screenshots of unanswered calls to patrol units and control rooms.
“Not a single policeman in sight,” he vented, decrying the episode as a stain on Bengaluru’s vibrant image.
The MP’s post quickly went viral, amassing thousands of views and mixed reactions.
While some sympathized with his plight, others reminded him to dial the universal emergency line 112, highlighting a perceived gap in awareness even among public figures.
Rai’s critique paints a vivid picture of isolation amid chaos, where even urgency yields no swift aid.
Echoes from Icons: A Growing Backlash
Bengaluru’s roads have drawn barbs from unlikely quarters lately, fueling a broader conversation on livability.
Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw recently recounted a foreign executive’s dismay at potholes and litter near her campus, urging a rethink on civic priorities.
Such anecdotes reveal how infrastructure woes erode investor confidence in a city that powers India’s innovation engine.
Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla added cosmic perspective at the Bengaluru Tech Summit on November 20, 2025.
Joking that navigating from Marathahalli to the venue took triple the time of his speech, he quipped, “Reaching Bengaluru from space feels easier.” These voices, from boardrooms to orbit, signal a tipping point where frustration transcends memes into calls for action.
Shivakumar’s Rejoinder and Policy Pushback
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, overseeing Bengaluru’s development, responded with characteristic candor on December 1, 2025.
He proposed meeting Rai in Delhi to showcase the capital’s own snarls, framing the issue as a shared urban malady rather than isolated incompetence.
Shivakumar emphasized ongoing white-topping of 39 key roads and plans for 100 more, aiming to smooth surfaces and flows alike.
Yet his earlier quip that “even god can’t fix Bengaluru’s traffic” lingers, drawing flak from opposition and citizens alike.
The exchange highlights political tightropes: acknowledging pain without alienating stakeholders, all while IT firms grapple with talent retention amid the daily drag.
Tunnel Vision: A Costly Underground Bet
In a bid to burrow beneath the bottleneck, Karnataka’s government greenlit a Rs.19,000 crore twin-tunnel project in July 2025.
Spanning 18 kilometers from Hebbal’s Esteem Mall to Silk Board’s KSRP Junction, this north-south corridor promises to slash peak-hour travel by half, with multiple entry-exit points to ease surface pressure.
Critics argue the toll-based model favors car owners, sidelining mass transit needs.
Still, proponents like Shivakumar view it as essential infrastructure, backed by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s nod. As tenders roll out, the project tests whether subterranean solutions can truly untangle surface strife.