Hyderabad: It is a risky ride for commuters at Cyber Hills’s Babu Khan Lane near Gachibowli with the road lying completely dug up for almost a year now. Two repair activities have been going on there, one by the GHMC’s maintenance team and another by its projects team.
The road was initially dug up by the GHMC maintenance team to lay an RCC box drain. The work was delayed by the contractor who was served notices to finish it fast. “The contractor has completed the work on 330 metres of the total 480 metres allotted to him. We now have a proposal for work on another 100 metres and are awaiting the administrative sanction to complete the entire maintenance work,” a GHMC official said.
A resident of the area Mr Laxminarayana said, “We have been facing inconvenience in commuting for the last one year. The space available is narrow where only one four-wheeler can at a time pass uphill. Because of this there is a lot of traffic congestion during rush hours. It is also difficult for school buses to enter the lane. Maintenance work is only half-done. Down the slope, the road is dug up entirely. We’ve had accidents too where people fell into the long pits.”
Commuters were given half the space on the road for use when maintenance work began, but once the GHMC project team started it’s own work, the road was completely closed on the downhill slope. A GHMC official handling the project said, “The project is currently at the initial stages and will take at least five months to complete. We are remodelling the drai-nage by connecting a main drain with a culvert nearby by constructing a 6x2 metre RCC box. When work on this started, we noticed a drinking water line passing on the stretch. This will be removed in the presence of the local MLA on January 8.”
The GHMC is in fact looking at creating two facilities with an eye on future needs — constructing a nala and a new road which will be of service long into the future. Commuters are being asked to skirt round the area for some more time.
