Marredpally hell for motorists

Hyderabad: Though civic authorities have assured to complete road repair works by December, the pothole-ridden West Marredpally road and Sainikpuri High-Tension stretch continue to remain in shambles.

Owing to the worn-out West Marredpally road, commuters are forced to take the parallel bylanes connecting to the East Marredpally main road, which in turn leads to the Eshwari Bai Signal opposite St John’s Church getting congested.

The congestion begins at 8 am when schools open,and continues till about 9 pm, when the rush hour ends. The entire St Ann’s stretch leading to Patny circle, thus, gets choked.

Adding to this, the civic authorities have dug up two huge ditches on the way from St. Andrew’s School to Food World and are filling it with cement and sand, leading to further congestion.

Ramana Naidu, a retired government employee and resident of West Marredpally said, “The moment one takes a left from the famous Ganesh Temple towards St. Andrew’s school, the misery begins.

Big ditches, flying sand, loose gravel and above all, a narrow road with congested traffic, welcome commuters. The road is a mess, right from the St Andrew’s Church till the Marredpally police station. If I travel without covering my nose, I find it difficult to breath. It is extremely difficult for two-wheeler riders without helmets as your face gets covered with dust.”

This particular stretch houses the St Andrew’s School, Secunderabad Public School, Marredpally Government College for Women, several eateries, the YMCA and other commercial outlets. The road is, thus, always packed with school buses and autorickshaws struggling to find parking place.

When contacted, North Zone GHMC deputy commissioner Hari Krishna said, “Funds have been sanctioned for re-carpeting of the West Marredpally Road and the private contractor has also begun repair works. Work on the entire stretch is scheduled to be completed by the yearend. Motorists will have to bear with us till the works are complete.”

It’s the same story with the Sainikpuri High Tension road, an important stretch that connects various colonies, said V. Sridhar, a resident of J.J Nagar. The concrete road was dug up two months back to lay a six-foot pipeline under the Godavari Drinking Water Supply Scheme. However, it was re-filled with loose soil leading to four-wheelers getting stuck here. Following the rains, the condition of the road only got worse, complain commuters.