Civic body's vehicle breaks down, causes traffic gridlock

Hyderabad: Commuters on the usually busy Banjara Hills-Secunderabad thoroughfare had to endure additional pain on Wednesday evening when two vehicles broke down on the road, leading to a maddening traffic jam. Road-users, however, praised the traffic police for managing to keep the traffic moving.

An instant rescue vehicle of the GHMC stalled on the Greenland flyover and an RTC bus broke down on the Banjara Hills road.

As a result of the blockage on the road at peak hour, traffic crawled over the 13-km stretch from Madhapur to Secunderabad. The ordeal began at 5 pm and traffic finally began flowing smoothly at 9 pm on Wednesday.

Mr V. Sasidhar, a stranded commuter, bemoaned, “It took nearly one-and-a-half hours to reach the destination. I appreciate the city police move and efforts at updating commuters.”

Mr Dawood Khan, a gym owner at Nagarjuna Circle, who is used to thick traffic on the road, said, “The traffic was bad today. I had closed my gym and thought of going home early but there was this traffic jam. Wuick action to clear the traffic by the traffic police was appreciable.”

Mr Mattey Kiran Kumar, another commuter, tweeted: “This is the worst nightmare to all the people driving on this lane from Masab tank to Road No 1, Banjara Hills. No traffic sense. (sic).”

Alerting road uses, Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar said in a tweet, “A big vehicle has broken down in Begumpet. Traffic crane is removing the vehicle from the spot. It has caused major traffic jam in the area. Please avoid going that side for the moment. We regret the inconvenience.”

According to the Panjagutta traffic police, the front axle of the GHMC vehicle broke when it was in the middle of the flyover at about 5.15 pm.

A Panjagutta traffic inspector said, “Since the GHMC vehicle was very heavy, our recovery van couldn’t move it. We brought a recovery van from Banjara Hills and moved the vehicle. It took an hour to move the vehicle.”