GWMC’s cool idea

​Warangal: Waiting at traffic junctions facing scorching summer heat may not be a painful experience as it used to be for the vehicle riders in the city.  Inspired by their counterparts at Kurnool Municipal Corporation (KMC) in Andhra Pradesh, the Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) authorities have decided to place green shade nets canopying the roads at select traffic junctions in the city.   

It may be noted that authorities at KMC have recently placed green shade nets on roads at traffic junctions in that town to provide cover from sun’s heat and the initiative has received much appreciation. The GWMC Commissioner VP Gautham instructed the corporation officials to place shade nets at traffic signal point at Adalath centre in Hanamkonda, on experimental basis. The work has begun on Monday night and one side of junction is now covered with the green net offered much relief to the motorists.   

The nets that are used in green houses and nurseries to protect plants from sun’s fury, will cost around Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 for each junction, the corporation taxation officer P Shanti Kumar told The Hans India. But the work is not that easy as it seems. “When we fastened a net at Adalath junction, a speeding lorry passing on the road has torn the net on Monday night. The nets have to be placed at higher level to avoid such incidents, but it may not offer much shade and efforts are on to sort out the problem”.

After Adalath centre, shade nets will be placed at Pochamma Maidan in Warangal, he said. Meanwhile, the motorists in the city are a happy lot and lauding the GWMC’s initiative. “With the mercury levels increasing with every passing day in the region, placing the shade nets definitely provide relief to the motorists waiting at traffic signals,” felt P Vivekananda, a resident of Hanamkonda. The summer temperature has touched 42 degrees Celsius in the city on Tuesday.

Commuting on motorbikes in such a hot weather condition is a difficult task and waiting at the traffic signal is even tougher. “It is a good idea to place shade nets and motorists can have a brief respite from summer heat,” noted a marketing executive D Venkata Ramana of Kazipet.