Rains Hit Hyderabad's IT Corridor Traffic Hard
Several employees in the IT and BPO sectors said most of them work in a hybrid mode—three days from the office and two days from home—and their section heads could allow them to work remotely during rainy days.
Hyderabad: With continuous evening downpours bringing the city to a halt, slow-moving traffic and kilometers of bumper-to-bumper vehicles have become a regular sight. The struggle of IT zone employees is hard to imagine. Many start their journey home from the office but end up stuck in traffic for hours.
The situation could change following a direction from Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy later in the day to IT companies to explore the possibilities of having their employees work from home.
Despite the Society for Cyberabad Security Council advising the IT sector to implement strategic shifts and offer work-from-home options during rain alerts to reduce congestion, these measures have not been properly enforced, leading to severe traffic jams.
Several employees in the IT and BPO sectors said most of them work in a hybrid mode—three days from the office and two days from home—and their section heads could allow them to work remotely during rainy days. However, most complained they are not given such flexibility. They said work can be delivered remotely, yet they are required to come to the office.
Vamsi Krishna, HR head at a BPO, said, “Most of the structure is in place, and several employees are provided with shuttle services. Workstations are divided shift-wise. Sudden changes will be difficult to manage.”
He added, “These companies are US-based, and mid-level management is scared to make decisions. If anything goes wrong, the blame falls on someone. That’s why employee presence is insisted upon.”
Transport experts explained that the sudden mushrooming of thousands of firms in the IT corridors has crowded existing road infrastructure and logistics.
Traffic joint commissioner of Cyberabad police, Gajarao Bhupal, said, “We have been urging firms to shuffle timings and recommending work-from-home options on rainy days, but most firms are not following this advice. We are also using social media platforms to spread awareness. We are doing our best to ease traffic during such situations.”
