Hyderabad: Experts stress need to redesign main junctions in Secunderabad Cantonment

Hyderabad : The main junctions of the Secunderabad Cantonment need to be re-designed, as lakhs of commuters travelling daily from various stretches of SCB, including Ammuguda, Trimulgherry, Karkhana, are facing nightmarish experiences. Even a recent joint study conducted by BITS Pilani, Hyderabad, and NIT-Durgapur clearly specifies that the Karkhana road is the most congested stretch in the city during peak hours.

The team of researchers, led by Prof. Prasanta Kumar Sahu of BITS Pilani and Prof. Bandhan Majumdar of NIT Durgapur, along with scholars Naveed Farooz Marazi, Subshree Panda and Siddartha Koramati, investigated the link between traffic congestion and geometric characteristics. Data was collected from around 20 police stations across five city traffic zones. The data collected from 2021 to 2022 at select locations based on police crash data from 2015 to 2020.

The study found among the 10 roads in the city the Karkhana junction was among the most congested. It developed a novel technique called TTCI to estimate traffic congestion and proposed using TTCI values to design the cordon lines for delaminating congestion zones and estimating the level of service of the roadway.

As per the study, the solution will be traffic signs and information ahead of intersections. Diversions can reduce the chances of confusion among drivers, thereby reducing congestion. Public transport services need to be improved to reduce the number of private cars `in the city limits, which is another effective measure towards solving the congestion problem. Movement of trucks and trailers should be restricted during peak hours as they cause speed variation due to a phenomenon called elephant racing.

Said CS Chandrasekhar, secretary, Federation of North-Eastern Colonies of Secunderabad, ‘complete stretches of SCB need attention; every stretch has countless problems, including narrow roads, traffic conjunction, pothole-ridden stretches. Even the five roads recently opened need to be also re-carpeted, as daily we are facing hell of lot of hardship. Due to bad condition of roads many accidents have taken place. It will be better if the SCB officials, along with the State government, re-design important junctions.

According to Nikhil, a resident of SCB,“All important junctions in SCB need to be re-designed. Roads should be widened; illegal speed breakers should be removed. Recently only a few potholes on Karkhana Road, Ammuguda, Trimulgherry were covered with sand, but due to the recent rain, it got washed away. The situation is back to square one. It is tough to drive or walk on the stretch as it is causing severe inconvenience to the public and creating traffic snarls.’

‘At least the SCB should respond to the public grievances and rectify the road issue immediately. Our other concern is morning walkers are still not allowed to walk on few stretches, mainly Bolarum, near the Rashtrapati Nilayam road.’