Sankranti Holidays End: Heavy Traffic on Highways Leading to Hyderabad

As the Sankranti festival holidays drew to a close, major highways leading into Hyderabad witnessed severe traffic congestion on Sunday (January 18) and it continued on Monday (January 19), with thousands of travellers heading back after celebrating the festival in their native towns, particularly across Andhra Pradesh.

National highways saw long queues of vehicles, causing hours-long delays for commuters. Heavy congestion was reported at multiple toll plazas, where motorists were forced to wait for extended periods. The National Highway 65 corridor, especially the Hyderabad–Vijayawada stretch, was among the worst affected, with bumper-to-bumper traffic stretching across several kilometres.

Traffic movement slowed significantly from early morning as the volume of vehicles entering Hyderabad increased sharply. Similar congestion was reported on other arterial routes connecting the city, as travellers from districts such as Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, and Krishna made their way back to Telangana.

Traffic police and highway authorities were deployed across key junctions and toll points to regulate vehicle flow and ease bottlenecks. Despite these efforts, the continuous inflow of vehicles returning after the extended holidays kept traffic heavy for most of the day.

Although schools, colleges, and government offices are scheduled to reopen on January 19, many commuters chose to begin their return journey a day earlier in an attempt to avoid last-minute congestion.

Officials have advised motorists to plan their travel during non-peak hours, follow traffic updates, and adhere to advisories issued by the authorities. The traffic situation is expected to remain under pressure for the next couple of days as the post-festival return rush continues.