The central areas of the city witnessed a major traffic jam on Tuesday after the traffic authorities closed down the Khairatabad road owing to a protest by the Electricity Department employees at Vidyut Soudha at Khairatabad.
Around 1,000 employees affiliated to A P Power Employees Joint Action Committee (APPEJAC), staged a protest in front of the head office to press for their demands.
Chaos reigned supreme after the traffic police diverted the vehicles on to Raj Bhavan road.
No respite
Though the exercise seemed to have helped a bit for the traffic police, there was no respite for motorists, as vehicles moved at a sluggish pace on the alternative route.
Four-wheelers parked on the roadsides narrowed down the alternative road stretch. “It took me almost half-an-hour to cross the stretch from Khairatabad to Somajiguda. Otherwise it takes not more than 10 minutes,” Abhinav, a marketing executive, said.
Traffic movement was affected at Secretariat, Mint Compound, Saifabad, Erram Manzil and Banjara Hills. “The police should have not given permission for holding protest demonstration on an arterial road. There are designated places to hold protest meetings,” said Adil Khan, an academician.
Motorists trying to hitch through the narrow lanes of M.S. Makta to avoid the choked Khairatabad flyover reported little success.
Meanwhile, the traffic police said though jams were witnessed around Khairatabad its men were present in adequate numbers to handle the problem. “We deployed many personnel to minimise inconvenience to the motorists,” a police official said.
