Hyderabad traffic jam conditions worsened on October 17 as the annual Dasara exodus brought major bus terminals, arterial roads and highways around the city to a standstill, with tens of thousands of people travelling to their native towns and villages.
The heaviest passenger movement was reported at the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station, Jubilee Bus Station and Dilsukhnagar. The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation deployed additional bus fleets to manage the surge, but boarding bays and roads around the terminals remained severely crowded throughout the day.
The festive rush also caused long delays on key inter-district and interstate routes. On the Hyderabad–Vijayawada Highway, or NH-65, congestion stretched for several kilometres in Nalgonda district. Ongoing construction of a new flyover at Chityal, combined with the high volume of vehicles leaving the city, slowed traffic sharply.
Traffic reportedly came to a complete standstill near Choutuppal and Borralagudem, leaving motorists stranded for more than an hour. The affected traffic included private cars, buses and commercial carriers travelling towards destinations outside Hyderabad.
Commuters cited the absence of active traffic personnel and highway patrol teams at bottleneck locations as a major reason for the worsening conditions. The disruption highlights the difficulty of maintaining movement on highways where festive travel coincides with construction activity and concentrated vehicle flows.
The Hyderabad–Hanamkonda Highway also experienced significant delays, with long queues forming near the Yadadri toll plaza. Vehicles moved slowly along the corridor as passenger and private traffic increased during the pre-Dasara travel period.
The concentration of passengers at the city’s main bus terminals and the simultaneous pressure on highways created a linked transport disruption rather than an isolated congestion point. Additional buses helped address demand for public transport, but the surrounding road network and boarding areas remained unable to absorb the volume smoothly.
Traffic conditions are expected to remain closely tied to the movement of festival-bound passengers and the management of bottlenecks near Chityal, Choutuppal, Borralagudem and the Yadadri toll plaza. The report did not provide details of a revised traffic-management plan or additional deployment for the affected corridors.
