Sluggish work progress at Shamshabad flyover creates monster traffic jams

HYDERABAD: The Shamshabad flyover construction has been underway for more than four years, but the slow progress of work has been hard on commuters, especially those heading in a hurry to the Shamshabad airport, who face severe traffic congestion along this stretch.

The flyover on National Highway 44, a six-lane road with multiple vehicular underpasses, is designed to allow vehicles to travel 100 kilometres per hour. Although the flyover was designed to cut the amount of traffic time for travellers and visitors at the airport, hundreds of vehicles, whether locals, tourists or travellers, are stuck in traffic jams on this route every day, sometimes for up to an hour.

It's not just travellers to the airport who struggle to get to their destinations; students and local merchants alike complain that severe traffic jams frequently disrupt their operations. Further, ambulances are frequently struck in the chaotic traffic, resulting in the death of a patient while being transported to a hospital.

Construction of the Shamshabad flyover, along with three others, at Prof. Jayashankar Telangana Agriculture University, Gaganpahad and Satamrai began construction in 2018 and was scheduled to be completed in 2020. However, the flyover project, taken up at a cost of `600 crore, has yet to be completed after more than four years of construction work.

A senior official of the ministry of toad transport and highways cited various bottlenecks in completion of flyover construction works. Firstly, the official attributed the delay to the Covid-19 pandemic that affected the works for more than two years.

Apart from this, the removal of the two religious structures falling on the stretch appears to be a significant challenge for the officials. “The work is progressing faster. We hope the flyover should be ready for use from March 2023,” he asserted.

‘Studies affected’

"There are 20 schools in the area with at least 20,000 students, as well as 10 colleges. Students frequently struggle to get to educational institutions, affecting their studies. We held protests and rasta-rokos to put pressure on the officials to expedite the work, but nothing happened.”

Nanda Kishore Chintala, a resident

‘Travellers caught in jams’

"Congestion can last up to two hours at times, especially during peak hours." This village has a population of over 1.5 lakh people. Recently, a family scheduled to travel abroad missed their flight due to traffic."

Mohammad Munwar Khan, tiffin centre owner

‘Ambulances stuck’

"Even ambulances are frequently stuck in traffic jams. A known person known to our family died recently in an ambulance while being transported to a hospital due to traffic congestion.

Mohammed Mujahid, a resident