Sir,

Mysuru was once a city where you could drive from one end to the other in under 20 minutes. Wide roads, very few traffic signals and a calm that matched the city’s reputation as the Pensioners’ Paradise. That ‘Mysore’ feels very far away now.

Today, traffic signals have been put up at every nook and corner. In many stretches, you hit a signal every 100 metres. And on most of these roads, honestly, there is no traffic to justify it.

A couple of two-wheelers and an autorickshaw do not need a full signal cycle. Let me point out a few specific cases that are particularly frustrating for daily commuters.

D. Devaraj Urs Road is a broad, busy one-way street. Yes, there is a crossing, but the number of vehicles crossing is so minimal compared to the traffic flowing on Devaraj Urs Road itself and a full signal is completely unnecessary. It ends up stopping hundreds of vehicles just to let a handful cross, which is neither fair nor practical.

The signal near the RTO is another headache. That junction has five lanes merging together. The signals there are placed in such a confusing manner that commuters coming from the two-lane Ballal Circle side have no idea which signal applies to which lane.

People end up stopping when they don’t need to, or waiting through an entire rotation of the signal just to figure out if it is meant for them. This is not traffic management. This is traffic chaos created by the very system meant to prevent it.

The signal at Agrahara Circle and near the Oval Grounds is completely unwarranted. These are not junctions that see heavy traffic through the day and installing signals here feels like a solution looking for a problem.

I understand that during Dasara, the city sees a genuine rush and some additional regulation makes sense. But Dasara lasts a few days. These signals are here 365 days a year, slowing down the city’s own residents every single day.

Mysuru is called the Pensioners’ Paradise for a reason. It is supposed to be peaceful, easy-going and liveable. That identity is slowly being chipped away. And here is the irony: even Bengaluru, a city actually struggling with traffic, does not have signals placed at such short distances from each other.

I would like to request the Police Department and the Mysuru City Corporation to first remove the signals that serve no purpose, starting with the ones mentioned above. And for the signals that do need to stay, please consider making them operational only during busy hours.

Flash mode or signal-off during off-peak hours would save commuters enormous time and frustration without compromising safety. This is already practiced in many cities and it works well.

Mysuru’s roads were its pride. Let us not turn them into a daily obstacle course.

— M.S. Aditya Kashyap, a daily commuter

Mysuru

13.7.2026