NH-44: Heavy Traffic Jams, Mishaps Give Tough Time to Commuters
The plying of heavy trucks and vehicles transporting goods and people increased on NH 44. With this, driving of cars and riding bikes became tough on NH 44.
Adilabad: Commuters are having a tough time travelling on NH-44 from Adilabad to Hyderabad with traffic jams and frequent road accidents delaying their journey by hours.
Vehicles, also including RTC buses, are often stranded and move slowly for long distances on both sides of the NH for hours following frequent road accidents at black spots and at Kupti ghats, where there exist a deep slope and sharp curves, in Neradigonda mandal.
The wait by vehicles at the toll plaza in Toopran is also time-consuming. People are moving largely to Hyderabad for studies and business purposes from Maharashtra and bordering districts of Telangana.
Regular road repairs, often in slow mode, and construction of underpass bridges at black spots on NH-44 are also causing traffic snarls. An underpass bridge is being constructed at Gudihathnoor on NH-44 to avoid road accidents in this tricky spot, where a large number of deaths have occurred in accidents.
Wrong road designs and compromises on safety measures are cited as the main reasons for the mishaps.
Following the construction of underpass bridges, traffic is being diverted through one-way traffic at this spot in the Adilabad district. An underpass was constructed at Kadthal on NH-44 in Nirmal district.
The old bridge got damaged. It developed a hole in the middle at Kupti bridge. The movement of heavy trucks also causes damage to the roads that are not constructed to withstand such pressure.
The plying of heavy trucks and vehicles transporting goods and people increased on NH 44. With this, driving of cars and riding bikes became tough on NH 44.
The heavy trucks transporting goods and services (parcels) have increased with a rise in online business and purchases by consumers from rural and urban areas through portals and Apps.
A large number of heavy trucks ply on NH-44. They are transporting goods to the South from north India. Private travel vehicles are coming to Hyderabad from Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. Daily wage labourers are migrating from north India to Hyderabad to work in construction sites, manufacturing units, resorts, factories etc by bus. It’s not easy to get reservations in trains, due to shortage of services and deep-rooted corruption in the system. This is adding to the burden of roads.
K Saiteja of Adilabad, who frequently goes to Hyderabad, observed that the number of heavy trucks, buses and vehicles increased manifold in the last four years, and this resulted in heavy traffic on NH- 44. In this backdrop, the journey (travelling) time by car has increased to 6 hours from 4, and by an additional half an hour from Adilabad town to Hyderabad, covering 300km due to heavy traffic on NH- 44.
Saiteja observed that traffic jams due to road accidents involving heavy trucks on NH-44 have become routine, and clearing the road jams takes time, with traffic coming to a halt for long distances on both sides of NH-44.
Ramanaveni Srinivas of Kupti village said the number of vehicles increased manifold. Earlier, very few lorries used to ply on double-lane roads in the NH- 7 before this was converted into NH-44. It’s taking an hour and a half for vehicles to clear a 4-km distance between Saath number village to Boath X road via Kupti. The main traffic problems arise at Kupti bridge and the ghat section.