Telangana: In Lakdikapul, Rs 2 crore just went down the drain

Hyderabad: The government has spent over Rs 2 crore for the redevelopment and upgradation of one of the busiest junctions in the city at Lakdikapul. This junction has two flyovers - one connecting Lakdikapul with Masab Tank, and the Hyderabad Metro viaduct connecting Khairatabad and MJ market.

The junction is also where the state police headquarters, several hotels and hospitals and the MMTS station are located. According to a survey, there are 80,000 to one lakh commuters crossing the stretch from Khariatabad to Gandhi Bhavan via Lakdikapul every day.

For years, commuters had to put up with numerous potholes and road diversions, thanks to the endless ongoing projects at this junction. The Lakdikapul crossroads is a low-lying area and faces an issue of major water logging every monsoon.

Mr Ashwin Kumar of Shanthinagar, Masab Tank, said, “The route covers Khairatabad, HMR head office, Nampally (Ravindra Bharathi and Assembly) and leads to the Lakdikapul junction in front of Venkateshwara Hotel. But this is a critical waterlogging point as the junction is on a slope. The old stormwater drains at this junction were widened two years ago. But a new road was laid, covering a part of the drain. Since there is no channel for the water to flow out, it stagnates in front of the hotel”.

To date, there is no corridor development in this area. Ditto is the case with areas like Punjagutta, Khairatabad, Karkhana and Toli Chowki junction.

A majority of the junctions in Hyderabad and Cyberabad have narrow roads, steep curves, sloped roads and blind corners. Lack of sufficient illumination, ill-functioning traffic signals and lack of speed signboards worsen the situation.

These are major infrastructural issues that need to be looked into urgently. A report prepared by the city traffic department has stated that infrastructure defects are the major cause of road accidents.