Daily mess! Commuters hassled by traffic snarls on Mehdipatnam-Shaikpet stretch

Hyderabad: One of the busiest stretches in the city, Mehdipatnam-Tolichowki-Shaikpet, has been witnessing traffic snarls, especially during the peak hours. The road is said to be 5 kms long. One of the major reasons is the slow pace of ongoing civic works, dug-up roads, potholes, and dust. Moreover, in various colonies in Mehdipatnam, Tolichowki, and Shaikpet areas, commuters find difficulty commuting as every other lane is dug up for civic works.

Traffic snarls are being reported every day in the stretch. As many as 80,000 to 1 lakh vehicles pass through this stretch. It is a nightmare for commuters to travel on the stretch; also, the stretch connects the IT corridor, which is experiencing bumper-to-bumper traffic and traffic gridlock.

Consequently, both sides of the road are clogged with vehicles, resulting in chaos while making it difficult for scores of commuters to travel on the stretch, and this ongoing slow pace is creating a double whammy for the motorists.

A resident of Golconda Qila, who is a regular commuter from Abids to Tolichowki, Shaik Rabbani, said, “Though the stretch from Mehdipatnam to Tolichowki should not take more than 10–15 minutes, the ongoing works take more than half an hour to cross the road. From the past 15 days, there have been a lot of traffic jams, and commuters are frustrated.”

It has been witnessed that the works are going on at Mehdipatnam main road, inner lanes in the area, and various colonies of Tolichowki, Seven Tombs Road, Hakeempet, and Shaikpet were dug up. The works include the Strategic Nala Development Programme (SNDP), the laying of sewerage pipelines, box drains, and new roads, among others, in these areas. Of this ongoing work, several have been going on for the last several months.

“The laying of the pipeline at Hakeempet Kunta has been going on for more than six months, and there has been no respite from the traffic gridlocks. Daily, the residents and commercial establishments deal with long traffic jams, dust, and potholes,” said Shaik Nizam, an owner of ready-made garments at Hakeempet.

Adding to the fuel of traffic gridlocks is the haphazard parking of vehicles on the main roads outside hotels and restaurants.

“The traffic is so chaotic that the police also usually struggle a lot to regulate normal vehicular movement,” said Mohammed Shahid Ali, a daily commuter.

In absence of appropriate parking space for vehicles, most of the shoppers and those visiting offices and banks are seen leaving their vehicles on the road edges, interrupting the free flow of traffic. Traffic jams continue to haunt commuters even after having two flyovers, one at Tolichowki and one at Shaikpet, for them to ply.

“At times, even standing on the bus bay seems scary as the buses are stopped very rashly and the shrieking auto drivers increase traffic,” said Divya, an intermediate student from St Anns Junior College.

Despite immense difficulties for the public, the proposed road development projects in the master plan 2021 by the civic authorities still await a nod.