Hyderabad: Battered roads turn commuters nightmare

Hyderabad: Driving through city roads, especially the Old City, has become a risky affair for commuters after rain continued to pound the city from the last five days. Some roads have already taken a beating much to the chagrin of motorists.

The digging work undertaken by various departments such as cables, drainage, and water pipelines, which are not levelled, is causing great inconvenience to commuters. The ongoing and incomplete work are major reasons for making the roads go from bad to worse condition.

The rain caused thousands of potholes. It made peoples' lives miserable as driving on such roads has turned into a nightmare due to their pathetic condition. The condition of roads in Chandrayangutta, Santoshnagar- Malakpet stretch, Falaknuma, Aramghar, Puranapul, Begum Bazar and other areas are extremely bad. Deep potholes cropped up at important lanes like Moghalpura, Panjesha, Dabeerpura, Darulshifa, Nampally, Mehdipatnam, Tolichowki.

Either the black toppings of roads or even whole roads were washed away at some places due to rain. Among the worst affected stretches were internal roads, specially those in colonies which were not yet taken care of by the Municipal Corporation in preparation to meet the monsoon.

Mohammed Ahmed, vice-president, TDP Minority Cell, said the roads in Panjesha, Dabeerpura, Moghalpura and Chandrayangutta seem to have gone from bad to worse. "The rain coupled with construction activity have made these roads so bad that we cannot take a walk without vehicles driving through potholes splashing water on us. There is also sewage that flows into colonies due to lack of de-silting work in manholes and drains," he said.

He said even roads which were re-laid a few months back have suffered damage, exposing the quality of work. A case in point is Panjesha which was among the roads re-laid last month. The road developed extensive damage. Potholes have emerged even on stretches where patchworks were carried out," he added.

Residents in several colonies, specially in places such as Dabeerpura where the underground cabling works were done recently, are crying hoarse over pathetic condition of interior roads.

In many other places, the top layer of roads has been swept away along with rainwater resulting in skidding of vehicles, specially two-wheelers.

Residents are vexed by bumpy rides on these roads, says Rizwan of Dabeerpura. Apart from bad roads, delay in re-carpeting them is causing inconvenience to residents. After digging up roads for laying pipelines and cables the civic bodies are taking their own time to re-carpet them."

According to GHMC officials, people have to bear the brunt for the next few weeks as road repairs and pothole-filling is ruled out due to prevailing inclement weather. Continuous rain has led to peeling of the bitumen layer, fill of water in potholes, water stagnation and water ponds.

Shaikpet, Tolichowki roads turn bad to worst

Various colonies of Tolichowki and Shaikpet are in a bad shape. Daily 3-4 incidents are being witnessed as bikes are getting skidded and people suffering injuries due to unfixed potholes. Residents of Surya Nagar Colony allege that, though it is one of the highest taxpayer in the city, it is being neglected by the municipal corporation. They termed the colony as 'posh slum of Jubilee Hills'.

Recently, the residents conducted a peaceful protest walk to register their pain and suffering. The protest was against the missing Secunderabad MP and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy who was last seen in 2019 when he came for election campaign.

"Several grievances are unaddressed, including bad roads, sewage overflow, open manholes and potholes. We face them throughout the year. The elected representatives are turning a blind eye to civic issues and are least bothered about the pain of residents," pointed out Mohammed Asif Hussain Sohail, a social activist.