Hyderabad: A four-car pile up on the PVNR Expressway resulted in a 5-km long traffic jam as heavy rains played havoc with normal life in the city and brought vehicular traffic almost to a halt. The Rajendernagar traffic police said the PVNR Expressway accident occurred due to a car slowing down following poor visibility in heavy rain. “The vehicle behind it could not slow down and rammed into it. While the first car left the spot, the driver of the second car parked on the extreme left to inspect the damage. Two other cars slowed down to see what had happened and were rammed by oncoming vehicles, resulting in a traffic jam. We cleared the traffic in half an hour,” said Rajendernagar traffic constable Venkanna.
DCP (traffic) A.V. Ranganath was caught in a traffic jam at Jubilee Hills in the evening when a car stalled in the middle of the carriageway. Traffic was severely affected during the morning and evening rush hours as rains lashed Greater Hydera-bad in two spells. Trees falling on the roads added to motorists' woes. The heavy rains in the morning were recorded at 5 cm. It started a little after 6 am and continued in most parts of the city until 9 am. Since the city’s drainage system cannot take more than 16 mm of water per hour, all main roads and internal streets were waterlogged until 11 am.
Motorists had a tough time making their way to work and water falling from the Metro Rail viaduct added to their woes. "We are checking all such points and will cover the leakages soon," said Hyderabad Metro Rail managing director N.V.S. Reddy. While a large number of schools had declared a holiday due to the ABVP bandh, office-goers bore the brunt of traffic jams. Rain in the evening added to their misery when they were returning home.
Citizens demanded that the state government come out with a solution to avoid regular inundation of roads. “Brand Hyderabad takes a beating with traffic jams. I keep touring cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Though flooding of roads is a worldwide phenomenon in urban areas when it rains heavily, the situation is becoming worse in Greater Hyderabad due to ongoing Metro Rail works. The pot-hole ridden roads may turn into death traps during monsoon,” said Mr Bhushan Kelkar, a merchant.
