Hans News Service Hyderabad

Intermittentrains, traffic gridlocks, and rain-battered roads disrupted normal life in Hyderabad on Friday. Several roads across the city were left in a dangerous condition, with potholes, damaged road surfaces, unfinished civic works, and traffic snarls making commuting hazardous for motorists and commuters alike.

As the on and off rains continued on Friday, commuters experienced traffic woes across the city, including the IT Corridor. Motorists reported slow-moving traffic and delays during peak hours, with congestion on several stretches. Citizens faced significant traffic jams at several locations including Hi-Tech City, Gachibowli, Madhapur, Kondapur, Miyapur, Kukatpally, Somagiuda, Begumpet and other parts of Hyderabad.

The rain, which caused inconvenience, has also troubled motorists, leading to accidents in some cases due to improper roads. Potholes with yawning gaps greet the citizens as soon as they step out of their houses. Motorists, especially two-wheeler riders, are facing immense difficulty because the submerged potholes are invisible under murky rainwater.

The residents demanded the GHMC address the deplorable state of infrastructure in its areas and said that in areas where civic works are going on, roads have gone from bad to worse.

“Roads in the city took a beating due to rainfall and have turned into a commuting hazard. The blacktopping was washed away, creating scores of large potholes,” said Srikanth, a commuter at Madhapur.

The key internal arterial stretches and residential lanes in the city’s colonies have taken a severe beating, making life difficult for residents during the ongoing monsoon season. When they hit the main road, it is a bumpy ride most of the way. Be it residential colonies or main roads, people are taking detours to reach their workplaces.

Residents across Sainikpuri, Kapra, Serilingampally, Nizampet, Uppal, Jubilee Hills, Kukatpally, Ameerpet, Nampally, Tolichowki, Langar House, Filmnagar, and Shaikpet reported that stagnant rainwater has completely eroded outer bitumen layers, turning the inner routes into hazardous obstacle courses of deep potholes and loose gravel. Motorists travelling through areas, including in the Old City like Puranapul, Bahadurpura, Chaderghat, Moghalpura and Misrigunj are struggling to negotiate damaged stretches where the road surface has been washed away by continuous rainfall. Waterlogged potholes and uneven surfaces have increased the risk of accidents, forcing commuters to drive cautiously during peak hours.

The inadequate drainage worsens the problem, leading to water pooling on roads. Residents said that civic authorities had recently carried out civic works at various places, but failed to restore the roads after completing the excavation.