School Buses Crawl for Hours on Varthur-Gunjur Stretch as Students Face Long Commutes

Parents in Bengaluru’s Varthur and Gunjur areas watched in frustration on Thursday as school buses carrying their children inched forward for hours. What should have been a short ride home turned into a long wait under dusty conditions and heavy traffic.

One parent shared that his daughter’s school bus took two hours to cover just two kilometres on the Varthur-Gunjur road. Others reported journeys of four to six kilometres stretching to two and a half hours. The delays hit hardest in the evening as students returned from school.

The stretch forms part of State Highway 35 and serves several well-known private schools in the Whitefield-Varthur belt. Many of these schools were conducting mid-term examinations that day. Morning buses also ran late by up to 40 minutes, leaving some students anxious as they reached exam halls. A few schools responded by giving affected children extra time to finish their papers.

Traffic police pointed to ongoing infrastructure work on the Varthur-Sarjapur Road and white-topping activity on Gunjur Club Road as major reasons for the pile-up. These works forced vehicles onto already narrow local roads. The surface had been made worse by recent rains that filled potholes with water and contributed to the slowdown. Heavy vehicles continued to ply the same routes during school hours making the corridor more congested.

Residents described children arriving home exhausted after sitting in buses for long periods. One parent noted that students were spending more time on the road than in class. Dust and the stop-start movement made the ride uncomfortable, especially for younger children. Safety concerns also surfaced, with parents recalling earlier incidents linked to poor road conditions in the area.

By Thursday evening, parents and residents had started an online representation seeking urgent road repairs, better traffic management and improved coordination among civic agencies. Organisers said more than 2,500 people had already signed it. The group estimates that 15 to 20 schools operate along the broader corridor, potentially affecting thousands of students and hundreds of school buses every day.

For families who chose homes near schools to reduce travel time and ensure safer journeys, the situation feels particularly difficult. Many pay significant taxes and have taken home loans with the hope of giving their children a smoother school life. Instead, daily commutes continue to test patience and energy.

Teachers and school staff also feel the ripple effects when students come to school late or leave depleted. Long hours on the road means less time for homework, rest and family. Education aspirants and parents looking for schools in east Bengaluru are closely monitoring these conditions as reliable transport continues to be a major factor in the selection of institutions. The events of September 17 point to a continuing problem in a developing section of the city, where many fine educational institutions are located. While temporary diversions and weather played a role that day, residents say the underlying problems of road quality and traffic management need lasting solutions so that school journeys do not remain a daily struggle.