Residents take to social networking sites to protest traffic jams during Prez visit.
A file photo of the Z security given to President in July 2015.
Hyderabad: Arrangements for the President’s southern sojourn, which begins on December 19, are a cause of annoyance for citizens due to the VVIP movements. In July 2015, the Governor had arranged a banquet dinner for the President for which roads from Bollaram up to Raj Bhavan were closed during working hours. Residents expressed their irritation on social networking sites, wigging the President not to travel during peak hours.
During the July visit, there were many traffic snarls as several roads were out of bounds for commuters when the President visited Raj Bhavan for a dinner hosted by the Governor. With the police cordoning off the roads at YMCA flyover, RP Road, Somajiguda, Punjagutta, Begumpet and SP Road, traffic came to a standstill. Daman Singh of Venkatapuram working for a corporate in Hitec City recalled, “Firstly all the ‘main roads’ were closed during office hours; the traffic cops, throughout the dinner, blocked the Raj Bhavan road up to the Bollaram route. There were traffic snarls at Paradise, Bible House, Greenlands Junction, Raj Bhavan Road, Khairatabad, and Somajiguda due to the restrictions.”
Jyothi Surana of Sindhi Colony said, “During every visit the route from Paradise to Bollaram is jam-packed, common men are stopped for VIPs to visit the President; at least the traffic police should make public announcements about alternative routes or guide the traffic through. The people are put to such hardships even for Chief Minister’s convoy.”
President Pranab Mukherjee himself got a first hand taste of the traffic chaos in Hyderabad during his maiden visit in 2012 after becoming the First Citizen.
His convoy got stuck in traffic at Tirumulgherry crossroads for a full minute on a Wednesday evening before it could be extricated and driven down to Rashtrapati Nilayam in Bollaram. The President is provided with Z plus security and traffic is completely halted when his convoy moves from one place to another.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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