Necklace Road, Tank Bund, Sanjeevaiah Park and Love Hyd installation turned into a hub for Independence Day celebrations in the city as people thronged the locations on a bright sunny day with blue sky. Selfies, stunts and screams of ‘Happy Independence Day’ were the order of the day as bikers and car drivers waved the tricolour and roared down the Hussainsagar lake front.
“I have lost count of the number of people who have come here for taking their photographs. If I didn’t have this the whole area would be blocked in five minutes,” said a traffic police official showing his camera to click photographs of traffic infractions. Even as the traffic constable kept clicking photos, two-wheeler riders kept stopping and requesting a few minutes’ break to park their vehicles.
Gaming zone
While the official State ceremony unfolded at the Golconda Fort with the Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao unfurling the Tricolour, the Necklace Road stretch from People’s Plaza till Sanjeevaiah Park was turned into a gaming zone with two-wheeler riders roaring down the street, doing risky stunts while their friends videographed them.
“There was an incident of a biker hitting an autorickshaw while doing a stunt, an ambulance was rushed but it was a minor accident. But some of the biker stunts were really crazy. As it is Independence Day and nobody has been harmed we didn’t bother but the Traffic Police will issue them challans based on speed violations,” said a police official near Sanjeevaiah Park.
Stately ride
Adding a dash of stately charm in the morning were the Wanderers, a Bullet riders group, with their easy paced drive around the Tank Bund. “Every year it is our tradition to be part of the flag hoisting ceremony at the Lumbini Park where the Deccan Heritage Club organises a vintage car and bike rally,” said Lalit Jain, a businessman and part of the Wanderers group.
But elsewhere on the Necklace Road it was the cacophony of roar of modified bikes and young bikers burning up the road. Some of the bikers even used the space near the Secretariat to pull of some crazy stunts one of which almost ended in a tragedy when a biker came in front of moving Telangana State Road Transport Corporation bus.
“There were these gangs of stunt riding groups revving bikes for no reason to draw attention and doing crazy stunts without safety equipment. One of them even had a huge Tricolour which was trailing on the ground. The cops were chasing them but they could do only so much,” said Rahool Saxena, an entreprenuer and part of the Wanderers’ group.
