Hyderabad: Traffic diversions irk commuters

Hyderabad: An unprecedented traffic gridlock was witnessed in several parts of the city, especially in the areas where the police issued traffic restrictions on a large scale following the Formula E event. At several places, due to the inconvenience caused, angry motorists were seen getting into a heated exchange with policemen, which led to traffic congestion.

Huge traffic in several areas of the city was witnessed due to restrictions and diversions around the NTR Marg, Khairtabad, Necklace Road, and other parts around the Hussainsagar Lake. The route diversion was imposed on Tuesday in view of the Formula E-Race on NTR Marg. Commuters who were unaware about the traffic restrictions were irked when they had to travel to reach their destinations.

"Though there was a traffic diversion. Traffic management went for a toss. Most people were not aware of the road blockade," said Prashant who lives in the Khairatabad area. He said due to traffic restrictions, there was a huge traffic jam in the Lakdikapool-Khairatabad stretch.

There was a huge traffic jam at Mehdipatnam-Masab Tank-Banjara Hills and surrounding areas. "It took me 15 minutes on the bike to reach Masab Tank from Mehdipatnam despite taking shortcuts through various residential colonies," said Shahid Ali.

However, the traffic coming from VV Statue (Khairtabad) towards Khairtabad flyover was not allowed towards Necklace Rotary and was diverted at VV Statue (Khairtabad) towards Shadan College-Ravindra Bharati. The entire Khairtabad-Lakdikapul-Ravindra Bharti junction witnessed a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam. The motorist was seen moving at a snail's pace.

Whereas, the Masab Tank-Lakdikapul stretch was similarly gridlocked, and the vehicles going towards Banjara Hills were seen waiting for several minutes at Masab Tank. The traffic restriction also affected various stretches like Secunderabad-Nallakunta-Ranigunj-Lower Tank Bund-Basheerbagh-Ashok Nagar-Masab Tank-Khairtabad-Mehdipatnam and other surrounding areas.