New choke points in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The Covid-19 induced lockdowns have had a major impact on traffic and mobility patterns in Hyderabad currently traffic jams are continuing exceeding peak hours, as new traffic congestion hot spots are emerging in the city, and fewer rides are being made to public transport centers.

During the first lockdown in March 2020 city fell silent with no traffic abruptly empty roads, and less pollution was reported by the State Pollution Control Board. An analysis by the Hyderabad Traffic Police shows that between March and June 2020, the travel time in the city had reduced by 40 to 65 per cent depending on the areas and locations. For instance, traveling from residential localities to the southern part of the city and northern part took around 35 minutes as opposed to over an hour in the pre-pandemic days.

However, the situation changed swiftly after June 2020, as people resumed travel to workplaces and public places with the government lifting restrictions as part of unlock guidelines. According to Transport Department fresh records, there are more than one crore vehicles in Hyderabad including transport and non-transport. Whereas in the year 2016 there were only 88 lakh vehicles. This indicates that every year around 6 lakh vehicles are being added to existing vehicles.

Higher officials from the traffic police department said that over the last year, at least 15 to 18 arterial stretches have been spotted where traffic was not heavy have now become new traffic congestion points.

A senior traffic official said, "We are observing increased traffic jams. In fact, over the last year, there is a change in traffic patterns. We are noticing more roads turning into congestion points."

The traffic police data shows that stretches such as Panjagutta, Begumpet, Rani Gunj, Tank Bund, SR Nagar, Ameerpet, Koti, Chaderghat, Malakpet, Dilsukhnagar, LB Nagar, Trimulgherry, Suchitra circle, Old Bowenpally, KBR Park, Hitec City, and Mehdipatnam are some of the stretches where heavy traffic jams are reported frequently.

It has also been noticed by the traffic officials that new traffic chokepoints are emerging; traffic snarls on the regular chaos are getting denser too. This has become a major concern as the most worrying trend, according to traffic experts, fewer trips are being made to public transport hubs such as bus stands and metro stations.