HYDERABAD: In a disturbing development, black spots in the city have gone up to 30 from just 20 in 2019, even as road accidents, including fatal ones, have come down in 2020. Hyderabad police said they are now declaring a location a black spot even if non-fatal mishaps occur frequently.
As per the Union ministry of road transport & highways, a location will be declared a black spot if five mishaps, either fatal or non-fatal ones, take place in a stretch of 500 metres.
Lack of traffic signals at a few busy areas are a major cause of accidents. At Lakdikapul on the stretch between Rangareddy collectorate and Ravindra Bharati, accidents are regularly happening at the inter-junction near Old Saifabad police station.
Motorists moving from Secretariat and heading towards Lakdikapul flyover have to travel diagonally to pass through the junction, which obstructs free flow of traffic coming on the stretch between Rangareddy collectorate and Ravindra Bharathi. As a result, manning of the junction became mandatory as there are no signals. At other black spots like Maitrivanam in Ameerpet and Umesh Chandra statue at SR Nagar, speeding and pedestrians ignoring Metro stations, which act as road over bridges (RoBs), are primary reason for many accidents. Locals said setting up rumble strips on the wide road could alert motorists to control speed. At Panjagutta crossroads, signal jumping, especially during night-time and right-turn by motorists despite being barred, are primary cause of road accidents.
On the other hand at GHMC zonal office, Khairatabad, the stretch becomes narrow due to a religious structure in the middle of the road, causing confusion as motorists have to circumvent it. Motorists come at high speed from Nirankari side, but have to cut acceleration and take right diversion.
Road No. 3 Banjara Hills and the Erragadda- Maitrivanam stretch continue to pose serious threat to road users. Lack of gaps in median, not following lane discipline by motorists were adding to blood spill on the roads. At Sangeet junction, crossing the road is still a herculean task.
Police said new black spots cropped up in SR Nagar, Panjagutta, Saifabad, Asif Nagar, Tolichowki, Falaknuma, Bahadurpura, Charminar, Malakpet, Sultan Bazar, Mir Chowk, Nampally, Kachiguda, Marredpally and Trimulgherry police station limits.
Hyderabad additional commissioner of police (Traffic) Anil Kumar said. βIn most accidents, we found it was due to human error and not due to any engineering defects. Whenever we come across any engineering problem or others, we coordinate with GHMC.ββ
In 2019, Hyderabad recorded 2,496 accidents, while it logged only 1,645 in 2020, due to lockdown.