Bumpy rides, traffic chaos, and potholes have come back to haunt the city commuters yet again, courtesy: the continuous spell of rain for the past few days.
Complaints about dusty roads are universal, while quite a few stretches have become non-commutable owing to complete erosion of BT. These locations include Khajaguda, Gachibowli, Balangar, Ameerpet, Fateh Nagar, Borabanda, MGBS, Darulshifa, Nagole, Kacheguda, Musheerabad among others.
P. Siddharth, a regular commuter between L.B. Nagar and Banjara Hills, says he cannot avoid pothole-ridden roads whichever route he takes. “Taking the stretch between Barkatpura and Dilsukhnagar, via Kacheguda and Chaderghat is taxing as it is in bad shape. Similar is the case if I try the road via Uppal, as the Alkapuri-Nagole-Tarnaka road has many potholes,” he says.
Potholes in the name of a road aptly describes the road connecting Musheerabad and Ramnagar through the fish market. While four-wheelers have to be driven in first gear through the entire stretch, for two-wheeler commuters, it’s a back-breaking journey. And the rain has only made the travel worse.
The road was dug up two months ago for laying pipelines and has been left unattended to in some parts. And wherever the pipes were laid, it was covered in mud and only one spell of rain was enough to wash away the same leaving gaping potholes all along. “It’s horrible and we have been facing it for two months,” said Narender, a resident of Dayara Market.
The patchwork done for Bonalu festival eroded with the first rain. Interestingly, the Home Minister takes this road on a regular basis, but even that does not seem to have woken up the officials.
Reduced visibility
The high amount of dust has been causing severe inconvenience to commuters at Bandalguda, Mylardevpally, Falaknuma, Purana Pul, Nampally and other areas of the city. On sunny days, the dust from gutted roads rises up in the air reducing visibility and hampering traffic flow. At Nampally, near the railway station, even bigger vehicles lurch from one side to the other as they navigate through the badly-damaged road. “There is no water-logging unlike in the earlier years which is why the traffic is moving. We are able to manage,” said a traffic police official at the spot. Twitterati also complained about bumpy rides on the Outer Ring Road and its service roads, besides the road to the international airport at Shamshabad.
Repair work
GHMC Commissioner B. Janardhan Reddy informed that he and Zonal Commissioners have been keeping track of the pothole-ridden roads, and would take up repair work on war-footing. “Already, a number of bad patches have been repaired and potholes filled,” he said.
Up to August 21, a total of 14,031 potholes were identified in all the six zones, of which 13,820 were filled up, as per the GHMC records.
“I have issued instructions that all the potholes should be filled up within 24 to 48 hours after identification. Normally, it takes two days, but we have decided to work our BT plants 24 hours and carry out the work,” Mr. Reddy said.
Officials from the HRDCL, which is entrusted with maintenance of all major roads in the city, could not be contacted.
Reporting by Swathi Vadlamudi, R. Ravikanth Reddy and Serish Nanisetti