Bikers turn footpaths into roads.

Hyderabad: Incessant rains that have been lashing the city are giving nightmares to the pedestrians in Greater Hyderabad limits.

While with no footpaths they are left to tread on roads, congested footpaths have only added to their misery, as two-wheeler riders turn them into roads to avoid wading through water-logged stretches.

Sharing his woes, M Satyanarayana, a resident of Tolichowki, rued that the flyover construction has narrowed the road and footpaths have been demolished by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to widen the road.

“Due to ongoing works, the GHMC authorities have dug up several pits and demolished footpaths.

How can we walk on the road when it is inundated? We are only left to stand till the waters recede,” he said. Sharing similar views, A Rajeshwar Rao, a 59-year-old bank employee, said the water-logged streets have made it difficult to walk on roads to reach the bus stop, as the footpaths were either submerged or encroached by the commercial establishments.

"Footpaths are encroached and I feel frightened to cross the road fearing of a manhole in the midway," Rao said.

Sharing her experience, K Sirisha, a resident of Ramnagar said, “Even though the problem was negligible during mid 90s, it has eventually become a nightmare in the last two years.

It is impossible to walk on the VST road when the water reaches to knee level." She said, compounding the problem, bikers use already narrowed footpaths to ride robbing them of their space to walk on.

"It really becomes tough to board the bus at Mehdipatnam bus stop when it rains. Motorists just ride through the bus bay giving least regard to the passengers," shared B Deepthi, a third-year engineering student of a private engineering college near Chevella.

By: Maddy Deekshith