Sankranti rush brings Hyderabad traffic to a crawl as holiday exodus begins

Hyderabad witnessed severe traffic congestion on Friday evening as the annual Sankranti exodus gathered pace, with weekend travel coinciding with the start of festival holidays. A surge in outbound buses, private vehicles and cab services led to gridlocks across key corridors, while railway stations and bus terminals saw swelling crowds.

With educational institutions shut for a week, many residents chose to drive to their native places, resulting in slow-moving traffic on almost all major thoroughfares. Traffic police said congestion intensified from 7.30 p.m. onwards and is expected to remain heavy until midnight or early Saturday morning.

According to the Hyderabad traffic police control room, the worst-affected stretches included the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS)–Dilsukhnagar corridor towards Vijayawada, areas surrounding Secunderabad and Kacheguda railway stations, SR Nagar–Lakdikapul, and the Mehdipatnam route from Rethibowli to Attapur via Aramghar. Bus terminals at Ameerpet and the JBS Parade Ground also witnessed heavy congestion.

Even routine commuters were impacted, with motorists reporting waiting times of up to 20 minutes on the Mehdipatnam stretch during peak hours.

Traffic volumes also rose sharply in Cyberabad, home to the IT corridor, as large numbers of employees began leaving the city for the festival. Congestion was reported in Kukatpally, Moosapet, JNTU, Miyapur and along the RC Puram route. Choke points such as Miyapur X Roads, the Patancheru Outer Ring Road Exit 3 rotary and Medchal were particularly affected, with ongoing highway works adding to the bottlenecks.

To manage the surge, additional traffic personnel were deployed across the Hyderabad commissionerate. Authorities had earlier held coordination meetings with bus operators, directing APSRTC and TGSRTC drivers to halt only at designated stops and move immediately after boarding passengers. Private operators were instructed to shift pick-up and drop-off points away from busy junctions, including relocating operations from Miyapur X Roads to the Miyapur metro bus stop.

Officials also directed private buses to park in a single column rather than side by side on roads. Special attention is being given to private bus operations in Kukatpally, Miyapur and Gachibowli, as well as Lingampally railway station, where footfall continues to rise.

A higher deployment of traffic personnel has been made along the Balanagar–RC Puram stretch, which is being used by a majority of outbound buses. To ease congestion within the city, some buses have been diverted to use Outer Ring Road exits and avoid interior roads.