Civic works at tepid pace sparks traffic chaos in Shalibanda area

Hyderabad: Renovation of the underground stormwater drains at Shalibanda in the Old City, has added to daily commuter woes, with traffic congestion worsening over the past two months.

A damaged stretch of road to Qazipura at Shalibanda has become a daily nightmare for commuters as well as residents. For the upgradation of the pipeline, the civic authorities dug up the road and placed the huge pipes in the middle of the road leading to heavy traffic jams and serious inconvenience.

A site visit revealed that the road from Qazipura via Asha Talkies has become a horrible stretch, making it difficult for commuters to navigate. For motorists, the digging and exposed pipes have turned an already congested road into a nightmare.

They pointed out that the narrow road has worsened matters. “This road is only 50–60 feet wide, and more than half has been dug up. Even it is difficult to navigate one four-wheeler,” said Fazl-ur-Rahman, a regular commuter.

On a stretch that already carries more vehicles than it can handle, shrinking it further makes it unsafe,” added Rahman.

Another commuter Venkatesh K said, “The stretch has become a nightmare. Crossing this road has become problematic. On most evenings, the traffic is entirely gridlock; the locals play the role of traffic police to clear the bottleneck.”

It has been observed that with the work being halted, the traffic was worsened at the stretch between Shalibanda and Lal Darwaza signals.

The GHMC undertook the stormwater drain works to prevent frequent waterlogging incidents. However, the work has been progressing at a sluggish pace adding woes to the motorists and residents.

Mohammed Ahmed, a resident of Shalibanda, said that it has been nearly two months since the works were started. “More than half of the road was dug up and pipes were placed here. At least for a month no work is being done here and we are the ones, who face difficulties.” We do not know how many more months we have to suffer for the completion of work,” said Ahmed.

He said, “Even after raising complaints to the officers concerned, nothing has been done so far. This shows the lackadaisical attitude of the zone officers,” said Ahmed.