Hyderabad: Not-so-Hitec is the Rail-under-bridge (RUB) at Hitec City railway station. Commuters, mainly techies, spend at least 20 minutes on the 300 metre stretch everyday. Numerous complaints to the civic body along with protests by residents have fallen on deaf ears.
Due to monsoons the stretch is nothing short of a nightmare. Driving a two wheeler is risky to the extreme. Added to this is the hazard of an overflowing drain that spills the dirt water on the road with a terrible stench emanating from it.
Thousands of vehicles pass through the underpass causing an inadvertent traffic jam. This was a shortcut a couple of years ago but now has become a prime road with several commuters from Hafeezpet, Miyapur, Lingampally, KPHB and Kukatpally using it. Traffic queues that measure up to several kms line up each day and the troubles now are for real.
A techie Vishal Kumar commuting from Hafeezpet to Hitec City said, “Everyday we crawl through the traffic mess at Hitec MMTS railway station RUB. Traffic at this junction is getting worse and added to that is the stench from the stagnant water and the overflowing water itself. There are traffic violations also during day and night.”
The station is the closest MMTS station for several software companies and is used by thousands of techies each day. In the evening, a barricade is partially opened for two-wheelers to pass, which becomes yet another chaotic point. Some rule breakers try to fit in their car or auto trough this gap, causing further traffic congestion. During rains the plight is worse as the water from nala also spills over on the road.
Mr Vijay Narayana said, “There is an immediate need to widen the RUB at Hitec City MMTS to solve traffic congestion. The traffic snarls are increasing each day and even a slight drizzle is causing heavy congestion. There is a need to have proper scientific solutions to the flooding at RUBs with the building of wide drains.”
GHMC and Railways in co-ordination came out with a proposal for a four lane new RUB to reduce the traffic inconvenience. GHMC managed to finalise the General Arrangement Drawing (GAD) for a new RUB at Hi-tech City station. An amount of Rs 59.09 crore was sanctioned by the government for the widening. Of this an amount of Rs 24.09 crore for box portion which is supposed to be taken up by the railway department has been given to South Central Railway by GHMC.
Earlier this year GHMC had taken up the Nala diversion work at the location. An official has said that the tenders for proposals for RUB approaches which is under GHMC purview, are being called.
