Hyderabad: Barricaded Roads, U-Turns Make Traffic Go Haywire

 Hyderabad: Umpteen barricaded roads and extended U-turns that dot the city landscape are the most irksome hurdles for vehicular movement. And these problems are prevalent across all major roads, much to the chagrin of commuters.

It is a nightmare during peak hours as barricades and U-turns are consuming time and petrol besides leading to traffic jams, lamented B. Mohan Kumar, a commuter.

Earlier, commuters coming from Adarshnagar were allowed to take a free left towards Nampally and Gandhi Bhavan. After the junction at old CCS was barricaded, we have to now go all the way from Nizam college junction and the tri-junction that connects to Nampally court road. The Ek Minar barricade has been removed because of the exhibition and for the convenience of the traffic police and not for the public, said G Kavari, an advocate at Nampally criminal court.

“As one cannot take a right at the old CCS towards Lakdikapul, we have to take the long U-turn from Diamond Junction, which is getting jammed in the evenings because of the exhibition crowd. I am forced to use the ED office-Adarshnagar-Saifabad junction and Niloufer Hospital route to reach my house in Vijayanagar Colony,” Mohammed Azmath, a lecturer, said.

Any U-turn is a simple mathematical concept that has essentially been designed to facilitate smooth traffic flow. The traffic police should understand that when there is an increase of vehicles, movements will slow down. To save on time and fuel, many commuters trespass into one-way roads or remove barricades during nights, observed another vehicle user.

“The traffic police are only concerned about collecting challans and harassing commuters, on one irrational pretext or the other. I urge the city traffic in-charge to at least once ride a motorbike around the city, especially during peak hours, while duly following all traffic rules. At the end of his ‘adventure’, I am sure he will realise the ordeal we go through day in and day out,” said Sudama, an exasperated commuter.

“Most of our buses are bereft of the power steering facility. It is particularly difficult, and even risky, for a driver to take a U-turn, which is done by checking on either side, cutting the steering for reverse and applying first gear. It is because of this that we are abused by commuters, who are also racing against time to reach their respective destinations,” pointed out P. Anjanna, a TSRTC driver.

“Some of the slowdown in traffic is when buses take a U-turn. By the time one bus moves, the vehicle pile-up increases. If this happens during a VIP movement, we will lose our jobs”, said a police officer, while speaking about the tough job of regulating traffic movement.

Meanwhile, one Sachin Agarwal said “Traffic flow is increasing by the day because more and more vehicles are hitting the streets. Till 2022, barricaded roads and U-turns facilitated traffic flow in an orderly manner. However, of late, these are consuming time and leading to more traffic issues and frustrations.”

Recently, the road from BRS Bhavan to Agrasen Temple Island and the road connecting Banjara Hills Road No. 12 have been barricaded and the U-turn use has been restricted causing myriad problems for those going to Apollo Hospital and the Cancer Hospital.

“It is one hell of a journey to my office in Filmnagar. In the morning I go through Road No. 12 Agrasen Temple Island, while during the return journey, I have to use the road leading to Cancer Hospital and City Centre to reach my home in NMDC Colony. It takes over 30 minutes as the road towards road number 12 pension office is barricaded at Agrasen temple,” G. Sri Hari, a techie, said.

Meanwhile, a senior traffic police officer explained, “Our purpose to barricade or create U-turns is not to bother commuters but to facilitate smooth traffic flow. If the traffic is not restricted or even stopped for a minute, vehicles get piled up causing even more problems to road users.”

The main junctions that are presently barricaded include: Agrasen Temple Island at Banjara Hills; Old CCS Junction near Public Garden, Katta Maisamma Temple Lower Tank Bund Junction, Abids Bombay Bakery Tri-junction (partially) and the New CCS Junction from Basheerbagh towards Liberty.