It's a double whammy of sorts! It's as if one bottle neck was not enough.
Now, commuters have to contend with a huge ‘trench' dug up to repair a water pipeline right in the middle of the Begumpet main road near Shoppers Stop. Since two-days, travelling on that stretch has just become even more difficult.
The huge trench, which is occupying almost 60 per cent of the road, has blocked traffic for the last two days leading to huge gridlocks.
Thanks to the recent rain, the situation of the traffic along the stretch has worsened. It takes close to an hour of intense driving just to cross the stretch and reach the Begumpet airport flyover.
Needless to say, the trench is attracting the ire of commuters.
“We are already suffering due to the bottleneck near Shoppers Shop. Now because of this, it takes me over two hours to reach Uppal from Punjagutta.
There is no planning among traffic police and municipal authorities. They should have taken up the repairs during week ends when the traffic is less,” commuters complain.
The root cause of the trouble is the water board's decision to take up repair works of the pipeline that feeds drinking water supply to Prakashnagar and surrounding areas and stretches till Marredpally. The pipeline was damaged after it came in contact with a rock located below it due to pressure from the vehicular movement along the stretch, water board officials said.
The water board officials also maintained that the repair work of the pipeline will continue for two more days and required permissions from the police have already been taken.
“Water was seeping out of the pipeline onto the main road at this stretch. We wanted to repair the pipeline before August 15 and because of rains the repair works got delayed,” water board officials said.