Unbelievable horror stories are emerging about the commuting experience citizens had on Monday night in the western parts of the city in Madhapur, Gachibowli, Jubilee Hills, Kondapur, JNTU and Kukatpally. It rained 3.5 cm in Jubilee Hills area in a span of few hours.
“One of our colleagues Amer Husain’s bike fell into a manhole in a near fatal accident near Khajaguda. It took us two hours for arranging first aid. It was sheer luck that we were there,” says Raja Mamidi who has started a petition on Change.org: “Build safe roads in Hyderabad within 6 months or refund the road taxes paid by citizens”. The petition has already garnered 1500 signatures within hours of it going live.
“It was a nightmare as I tried to reach home from Ayyappa Colony to Gachibowli. The usual road I take is via Inorbit Mall but that was blocked by police due to flooding. I took the long detour via Road no 36 and Dargah when again we were stopped by a flooded roads. I reached home only at 12.30 a.m.,” said Mr. Mamidi a techie and entrepreneur.
Social media
Social media sites were flooded with images of stranded cars, stalled bikes and people walking in knee-deep waters in darkness. One of the images showed a colourfully lit street with a long line of cars with their tail lamps on. Pretty to look at, but with angry and frustrated commuters.
“Two hours. Still on the way to home. From Jubilee Hills to Madhapur. May be two more hours. What’s happening to Hyderabad? Can’t it afford rains?” tweeted film director Koratala Siva.
“I started from Avasa Hotel in Madhapur at 8 p.m. for my home. There were no cabs available. Finally, I got into an Uber Pool but midway near Jubilee Hills Checkpost the driver asked us to get down as he said his vehicle was out of gas and had to go to Shamshabad. We walked till checkpost in waterlogged streets and there was no public transport. I got into a shared auto and agreed to pay ₹ 800 to drop me near Khairatabad but that person dropped me near City Centre Mall and demanded money,” shared B. Sunita.
Traffic chaos
It was not that the roads were flooded completely or fallen trees were blocking roads. It appeared like the traffic police were caught off guard as they kept redirecting traffic from one area to another. “It takes me 20 minutes to go home in Madhapur area. The usual route is via Road No. 36 but I had to take a left turn and get on to Road No. 45 but it was also jammed and I got back to Road No. 36 near Croma. Vehicles were going into lane which led to my house but once I entered the lane, it got jammed and I reached home only at 12.45 a.m.” said one commuter.