Chock-a-block: Why has traffic situation worsened in Hyderabad after change of government?

Hyderabad: Since December 2023, Hyderabad and Cyberabad commissionerates have been witnessing traffic jams through the day to evening resulting in longer travel time and wasted fuel for motorists.

Among the many reasons for an increase in traffic issues, the experts in the industry have listed excess VIP movement, especially around the Dr BR Ambedkar Telangana Secretariat; visitors to Gandhi Bhavan and the Secretariat which includes the Chief Minister’s convoy, ministers and others travelling back and forth; too many political meetings, dinners, functions etc., and absence of traffic police personnel at many junctions as problem areas.

Be it Mehdipatnam, Masab Tank, Lakdikapul, Jubilee Hills, Begumpet or Panjagutta, all roads are witnessing higher vehicular traffic volume and the situation is becoming worse during peak hours due to a lack of traffic police personnel on the ground to direct the vehicles.

Motorists take to social media for solutions

Due to this, motorists are expressing dissatisfaction over poor traffic management in the city and appealing to the concerned authorities to identify a permanent solution for their woes on their social media handles.

One of the motorists, P Pawan on his X (formerly Twitter) handle said, “The stop lines and zebra crossing markings at many intersections are fading out, causing safety hazards for pedestrians and drivers. It’s time for a maintenance check and refresh to ensure everyone’s safety.”

Traffic police increased involvement sought

Representatives from the Hyderabad Intellectuals Forum said, “Traffic police personnel in Hyderabad have stopped regulating traffic long back. They closed all signals and made random U-turns wherever they found openings. They either do recovery of traffic challans with gadgets or spend time with their mobiles on the side. In the new government, there is zero accountability.”

Roads leading to Hi-Tech from Secunderabad jam-packed

Another motorist Srikanth Navuduri said that the roads were jam-packed from Uppal/Secunderabad to Hi-Tech. “Worst traffic jams over the years. The metro is overcrowded. Begumpet is always occupied by ministers and public representatives. New infrastructure in these routes should be a focus but there was no response from the previous government. The ministers only concentrate on routes they benefit from,” he said.

Congress wants permanent solution for traffic woes

Speaking to NewsMeter, a senior police official on condition of anonymity, admitted that vehicular traffic was doubled due to the Secretariat and the increased activity of officials.

“Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is keen to mitigate the traffic issues in Hyderabad. In this regard, the department is convening meetings with various stakeholders. Apart from that, the traffic police in coordination with the municipal administration department are conducting ground-level inspections to identify a permanent solution for traffic woes of motorists,” he said.

Constituting a traffic command centre

The official said that a suggestion was made to the State government to constitute a command control centre by merging all three traffic commissionerates - Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda - to implement uniform guidelines which help to streamline the traffic in Hyderabad.

Referring to the measures being taken by the police to streamline the traffic, he said Hyderabad traffic police have adopted tech-driven smart traffic signals and surveillance systems for efficient traffic management.

The official also said that Hyderabad roads were equipped with surveillance cameras and the traffic police will be instructed to monitor the timings of vehicular movement during peak hours and during normal times. Based on that, traffic movement will be diverted from busy roads to alternate routes to ease the traffic congestion, he said.

Comprehensive action plan to mitigate persistent traffic

“We are drafting a comprehensive action plan and soon after its completion, we will implement it simultaneously with the support of various stakeholders like GHMC, HMDA, metro rail, water board, electricity to mitigate persistent traffic and parking issues, and its enforcement, in the city,” the official added.

On the lack of traffic police personnel on roads, the official said that several of them were anticipating transfers and soon after the completion of the procedures traffic congestions will be streamlined, he added.