Blaring horns and protracted traffic logjams on the main thoroughfares greeted the residents on Saturday as traffic was diverted through alternative routes after a portion of the road caved in on the busy Panjagutta-Khairatabad stretch on Friday.
With the road closed down to facilitate repair work, the surrounding roads were thrown into endless traffic gridlocks throughout the day.
While traffic came to a standstill due to the inefficient civic works, the sudden showers in the evening sent traffic into an unending tail spin putting two-wheeler drivers in a bind where they could not even scurry for cover.
“I was struck in traffic on Raj Bhavan Road when rain started lashing down. The already crawling traffic came to a standstill due to the age-old problem of water-logging on the city roads,” M. Sudhakar, a resident of Begumpet, rued.
Worst experience
Most motorists complained that they had the worst experience on Saturday. “Most of the roads are already ridden with potholes slowing down the traffic. But now, closure of this key stretch has thrown traffic into an uncontrollable spin,” Krishna Rao, a software engineer said. It took three hours to navigate all the way from Hi-Tec City to Tarnaka, he complained.
Though commuters were left high and dry in traffic jams, the worst affected were the emergency services like ambulances. The vehicles kept blaring their sirens to no avail.
“When the whole situation is this pathetic, how can ambulances ever cross the traffic chaos?” another hapless motorist questioned.
Traffic police, on other hand, were pressed hard to contain the situation. The department was on the roads trying to bring some semblance into the situation.
“The situation was bad for whole of the day. Though we gave sufficient warning, people kept trying to squeeze through the damaged stretch,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) C.V. Anand said.
GHMC officials are still unable to ascertain the source of water seepage and there will be a bigger problem if the road is not restored by Monday morning, Mr. Anand said.
