Traffic diversion leads to congestion

Vijayawada: Ch Basivi Reddy, a resident of Hyderabad, was travelling towards Kunchanapalli village in Guntur district via Vijayawada to attend a function at his brother-in-law’s house on Monday.

But, he was stuck in traffic at Sitara Junction near Chittinagar tunnel in the city on Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway and his trip was delayed by nearly two hours.

He left Hyderabad early morning by a car with a plan of reaching Kunchanapalli by about 11 a.m. However, due to traffic congestion at Sitara junction, he could not attend the function on time.

Rajesh, a resident of Kankipadu, was going to Hyderabad by a car to attend official work but was held up at the same junction due to heavy traffic in One Town.

Traffic between Durga temple junction and Kummaripalem was suspended since January 21 due to ongoing Durga temple flyover bridge construction works. The R and B officials have hastened the works with an intention to complete them by summer. Traffic police diverted the traffic towards Sitara Junction, Chitti Nagar, Erra Katta route or Milk Project and Inner Ring Road.

A large number of local residents and commuters travelling between Vijayawada-Ibrahimpatnam and towards Nandigama on the Hyderabad route are facing many hardships due to increasing traffic and traffic diversion being implemented by the city traffic police.

Thousands of vehicles passing through Benz Circle, Ramavarappadu, Inner Ring Road and Krishna Lanka and going towards Ibrahimpatnam, Jaggaiahpet and Hyderabad have to move via Sitara Junction and Milk Project Flyover causing traffic snarls at various places during peak hours.

During the peak period, hundreds of vehicles are getting stuck at the main junctions between Gollapudi and Vidyadharapuram since January 21.

The heavy traffic is causing a lot of inconvenience to local people, said M Venkata Ramana of Bhavanipuram. “Earlier, we used to take 30 minutes to reach Railway station or bus stand but now it is taking at least two hours due to increasing traffic and congestion,” he said.

R and B officials, who are supervising the works, said the department is trying to complete the flyover construction works as soon as possible to ease the traffic problem in the city.

They said pillar-laying works in Krishna river are crucial for the Flyover Project and efforts were on to speed up the flyover works.

The traffic police may restore the traffic between Durga temple flyover and Kummaripalem in two weeks as the pillar laying works in the river are expected to be completed by that time.

Dasari Srinivasa Rao