Hyderabad: The ongoing construction of the Amberpet flyover on NH-163 and the resulting traffic diversions and restrictions have been creating major annoyance and inconvenience to commuters, locals, and businesses, with no relief until March 10.
Even though there are temporary traffic restrictions in effect from the road at the Gandhi Statue to the Amberpet 'T' Junction close to the Sree Ramana Theatre, the entire stretch is covered in dust and the road is bumpy. The stretch has three hospitals and several eateries.
Lalitha Sekhar, a resident of an apartment building in the stretch, expressed her discontent with the continuous ingress of construction site dust into her home. She alleged that no safety screens have been installed by the authorities throughout the stretch, and as a result she compels her three children, who are all under 10, not to venture into the balcony that overlooks the street.
Aniruddha Dhar, a Ramanthapur resident, expressed his frustration with the numerous detours he must make. "I have to try a new route almost every month. The auto driver who picks up my daughter from school has trouble navigating new lanes—sometimes from Shivam Road, from the smelly lane behind the cemetery, and from the Ali Cafe road,” he rued.
The road from No.6 Junction to Uppal, according to his neighbour, is a driver's nightmare. “Only a skilled driver can navigate the road's bumps,” he remarked. A worker at a shop in Amberpet stated, "There is only so much we can do to limit the dust coming, we definitely have observed a decline in the number of regular customers visiting in the past six months”.
While vehicles coming from Amberpet to Uppal have no diversion, vehicles travelling in the other direction from Amberpet to Uppal must turn left toward the Police Grounds and the Ali Cafe crossroads."The deserted lane becomes much more unsafe at night for women as drunken men saunter the garbage-filled lane,” said a commuter.
When contacted, an official said that while some inconvenience was normal during construction, efforts would be made to improve the situation.
