Tarnished, tattered, tortured

On Saturday, a couple riding along with their child on a two-wheeler on the battered stretch of Neredmet X Roads - AS Rao Nagar, suffered a terrible fall on stagnant water. In an impulse, a few motorists who went to help the family, met with a similar fate. All were covered in muck but fortunately, everyone, including the little boy, were safe.

The incessant rains in the last few days ensured that roads were riddled with potholes and eroded carriageways. Be it arterial roads, lanes or bylanes, the situation remains the same almost everywhere in the city. Five motorists slipped at the Balanagar X Roads in a period of one week which eventually ended in a traffic jam.

This dreadful condition cannot be blamed on incessant rains alone, as poor untended roads prevailed even before the onset of monsoon. The condition only became worse following the downpour. Following several complaints in July, the higher officials from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) promised to undertake emergency repair works on main thoroughfares to give respite from the back-breaking rides on the rain-battered roads. But nothing seems to have materialised on the ground.

“Every year, officials assure that they are prepared to face the monsoon but roads get eroded even with the slightest of rains. Those on two-wheelers face greater risk of riding on slippery surfaces,” lamented Krishna Kumar, an IT Employee.

The incessant drizzle only added to the commuters’ woes as many roads were water-logged.

“Most roads and junctions in the city had partial water-logging, particularly on the edges of the road, because of which traffic slowed down considerably. For a commute that usually takes about an hour, I had to spend double the time,” complained Saraswati Jha, another private employee.

“Instead of laying roads properly, civic authorities fill potholes and cracks with mud and sand, which starts eroding due to rains,” she observed.

Even the city traffic police identified over 303 badly ridden roads and alerted the GHMC. Though this is an annual affair, this year the motorist and pedestrians have had a tough time negotiating the roads.

In Abids and Moazzam Jahi Market, the motorists have to exhibit their driving skills in the potholes filled up roads. Same is the case at Erragadda, Moosapet and Mythrivanam Road at Ameerpet.

At Musheerabad and RTC X Roads, motorists jostle up and down driving vehicles through scattered gravel and dusty roads.

Meanwhile, the plight of road users in the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) area is even worse as vehicles get stuck in crater like potholes and slushy roads near Polo Grounds and the stretch leading towards Sikh Village X Roads. Repair work at Picket and JBS-West Marredpally- Balamrai stretches are also pending for a long time.

Even in West Marredpally and Moula Ali, roads have become a pothole-ridden stretch, much to the discomfort of the residents.

In Old City, motorists are forced to negotiate through potholes on stretches at Kishanbagh, Vattepally, Misrigunj and Puranapul. It is no better at Golconda and Langer Houz. Roads dug up and not properly re-carpeted, is the condition at Chaitanyapuri near Dilsukhnagar. Laying of underground cables by APCPDCL across the city has aggravated the woes of commuters.