Vijayawada: Inner ring road turns a mishap-prone zone

Vijayawada: The Inner Ring Road, that was designed to reduce traffic in city, is turning into a death trap. In the latest mishap, two persons travelling on a two-wheeler were killed on Thursday. Prior to that, a person travelling on his bike hit a divider and was seriously injured at Ramavarappadu flyover. The 9.84-km Inner Ring Road, connecting NH-9 at Gollapudi with NH-5 at Ramavarappadu, was built in the city at a cost of around '125 crore to smoothen traffic flow in the city.

Heavy vehicles, which created a lot of disturbance in the city, were diverted through this road. As a result, these heavy vehicles are creating havoc at peak hours near Ramavarappdu ring. The heavy vehicle flow in this road is the main reason for road mishaps. Lorries and other transport vehicles moving at top speed on this road are risky for two and four-wheelers. Mainly, two flyovers connecting the Inner Ring Road and Ramavarappadu with three narrow diversions are turning into accident spots.

Minor accidents in this road had become prevalent as police department had not focused on this road. “The road has no police patrolling or traffic indications. Riding beside heavy vehicles moving at high speed is very scary,” said M. Harish, a private employee who uses a two-wheeler. Local residents complained that city youths hold bike races on this road at nights. Meanwhile, the local police lack clarity on their limits as flyover is in the boundaries of Patama, Machavaram and Nunna police station limits.

The police took over three hours to take the bodies of the road mishap victims on Thursday, which invited lot of criticism. “Over-speeding by heavy vehicles is the main reason for road mishaps. Over-taking at curves is becoming dangerous. We will soon arrange warning boards and display accident photographs to alert the people moving on this road,” said Kranti Rana Tata, DCP (traffic) Vijayawada.