Faulty pelican signals put pedestrians at risk

Hyderabad: Pelican signals, designed to provide a safe passage for pedestrians across Hyderabad’s congested arteries, are failing to perform their primary function, leaving thousands of residents at risk. Ground reports indicate a dangerous lack of coordination at several key locations, where faulty signal cycles are forcing people to dodge high-speed traffic.

The crisis is particularly acute at the Survey of India junction, a high-traffic zone used daily by hundreds of students from Little Flower School and nearby junior and degree colleges. While traffic officials maintain that the signals are functional and backed by CCTV enforcement to penalise violators, field observations tell a different story.

At this specific junction, one of the three vehicle-facing signals reportedly remains green at all times. This technical glitch means traffic never comes to a complete halt, even when the pedestrian light turns green. Consequently, students and elderly commuters are often seen waiting through multiple cycles or making dangerous sprints through narrow gaps in moving vehicles.

Similar malfunctions have been noted across the city, with some signals failing to trigger the pedestrian “walk” phase altogether. Despite being a city of over one crore people, Hyderabad’s limited number of Pelican signals many of which are now defunct or poorly synchronised continues to be a major roadblock to pedestrian safety.