Why the Return Jam Has a Shape
The Dussehra return surge is not spread across the weekend. It compresses into roughly a six-hour window on the final evening, typically between 5 pm and 11 pm, because most families anchor their departure to the effigy burning. The moment the Ravan dahan ends, usually between 7 pm and 9 pm depending on the ground, everyone moves at once. Highways feeding back into metros and tier-one cities see traffic density spike fastest in the first ninety minutes after the main event. Chanakya wrote in the Arthashastra that the general who controls timing controls the outcome of the campaign. The same logic applies to a state highway on a festival night.
