Hyderabad: The never-ending Hyderabad Metro Rail construction in the city is leading to traffic bottlenecks, diversions and heavy traffic jams especially during peak hours. Work has gathered pace ahead of the
The situation is so bad that commuters are stuck between 40 minutes and an hour as they cross Maitrivanam, Rasoolpura junction, YMCA flyover towards Secunderabad and Malakpet under bridge towards the Chadherghat crossroads.
The traffic police tried various measures including closing the road for cross traffic at junctions and providing U-turns some distance away to ease traffic flow but nothing has changed.
It appears commuters can do nothing except to live with it for the next few months. Traffic DCP A.V. Ranganath said, “65 per cent of the work is finished at all major junctions. At Malakpet junction, Metro Rail work was scheduled to finish by February but it has been extended for one-and-a-half months more due to the complexity of the work.”
He said city planners should develop alternative roads to take the pressure off the main roads. He also said commuters should plan their journeys according to the updates that traffic police provides. They should try to avoid the peak hours and take alternative roads suggested by the traffic police. IT professional Adithya Garlapati, who commutes from Uppal on a two-wheeler, said that given the traffic congestion and the heat, he had opted to stay back at his friend’s place in Madhapur. “Nothing can be done until the Metro Rail is completed but we do need some alternatives to overcome traffic problems,” he said.
Malakpet junction to Chadherghat
It has been chaos at the Malakpet railway underbridge for a full year. Commuters have wasted lakhs of litres of fuel, stuck on the Chadherghat-Nalgonda crossroads stretch towards Malakpet. At peak hours, it takes between 30 minutes and an hour to travel about 1 km. The police has diverted traffic to alternative roads but it has not helped much, especially between 9 am and 11 am and from 6 pm to 10 pm. RTC buses and heavy vehicles have been diverted to Nimboliadda, Moosarambagh and Dil-sukhnagar, Dabeerpura, Amberpet, Azampura.
Maitrivanam junction
The road has narrowed down due to Metro Rail work. The stretch where two or three vehicles could pass at a time now allows one vehicle. That has created a tight bottleneck, trapping commuters from Ameerpet towards Maitrivanam junction. Most traffic jams occur at Shalimar junction, SR Nagar junction, KCP junction and Sarathi Studios. Sometimes the traffic build-up stretches to VV statue, Khairatabad and Greenlands. Traffic police say part of the blame should be laid on motorists who drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid traffic jams in a hurry — 975 motorists were this month. The presence of a lot of educational institutions contributes to the traffic jams. Vehicles are being diverted to Yousufguda check post, Krishnanagar and Begumpet. Buses and heavy vehicles have been diverted at Dharam-Karam road right turn towards GHMC ground, Sona Bai temple towards Satyam theatre road and towards Maitrivanam.
Rasoolpura Junction
Traffic jams at this crossroads on the arterial Secunderabad-Hitec City road sometimes stretches for a couple of kilometres during peak hours. There are several traffic choke points along the way at Parade Grounds, Chief Minister’s camp office and Hyderabad Public School. The Metro Rail staircases have been built in the middle of the road, narrowing down the carriageway. The widening of roads at the junction and creating additional lanes for traffic has not really helped. A slowdown of 15 minutes at most times is the norm, stretching up to an hour at peak times.
Vehicles take almost 20 minutes to cross the Paradise and Patny flyover during peak hours. Almost all the traffic from Begumpet in the evenings and heading towards Secunderabad moves via YMCA junction.
YMCA Junction
Vehicles take almost 20 minutes to cross the Paradise and Patny flyover during peak hours. Almost all the traffic from Begumpet in the evenings and heading towards Secunderabad moves via YMCA junction. To add to the woes, the roads are narrowed by barricades, forcing vehicles to squeeze through. This junction has five roads, and also sees traffic coming in from the Marredpally side. Motorists from Marredpally trying to cross the junction or take the other roads are often flummoxed by the traffic moving about seemingly in all directions.
