The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Security aspect on expressway ignored

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Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Security aspect on expressway ignored

Staff Reporter

No proper mechanism in place to keep vigil on traffic rule violators

HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) may boast of constructing the country’s longest flyover – P.V. Narasimha Rao Elevated Expressway – for the convenience of air travellers. But it has ignored the aspect of security on the flyover.

There is no proper mechanism in place on the 11.6-km-long elevated expressway to keep vigil on traffic rule violators or for that matter even to enforce the speed limit. There have been some instances of non-fatal hit-and-run cases, but identifying the culprits is almost a Herculean task for the law enforcement agencies. However, the Bandra – Worli Sea Link in Mumbai has all the measures to check such violations. The Sea Link has emergency call boxes, surveillance cameras and road sensors too.

Sign boards

The HMDA which constructed the expressway has washed off its hands after installing sign boards on the speed limit of 60 kmph. It had not taken either steps for safety of the commuters or security of the expressway. Presently, patrolling on the expressway is done very randomly during daytime only. There have been six accidents on the expressway so far and the response time for the police patrols in reaching the scene of accident is also too long. Generally either the victims or those cruising along are calling up the control room (100), but the confusion for the police here is that the expressway stretches itself from Hyderabad Commissionerate area into Cyberabad Commissionerate.

Overspeeding

Now the Hyderabad control room is verifying whether the reported accident fell within its jurisdiction or in Cyberabad and alerting the Cyberabad control which would have in turn directed its patrol team from Aramgarh end of the expressway. The number of road accidents, though non-fatal ones are likely to increase further as there is no method of regulating the speed of vehicles. While the speed limit is 60 kmph, vehicles are driven at a speed of not less than 120 kmph on this stretch.

Police officers suggest that surveillance cameras operated from a designated control room would certainly enable them to track speed limit violators and those moving suspiciously. It would be ideal to install cameras at Mehdipatnam, Rethibowli, PDP and Aramgarh junctions due to steep curves.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) N. Hanumantha Rao says speed laser guns were being used to track speed limit violators. “As of now, we have not taken any decision on installing cameras,” he adds.

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