All major junctions in the city experienced heavy traffic flow early in the morning as well as in the evening, thanks to the re-opening of schools, 3,037 in number, in the city on Monday.
The problem was particularly severe in localities where the number of schools is especially high.
Roads started bustling with school buses and autorickshaws carrying school children as early as 8 a.m. Areas with high concentration of schools such as Dilsukhnagar, Himayatnagar, Narayanguda, Abids, King Koti, Begumpet, Tarnaka, Banjara Hills and West Marredpally had vehicles moving at a snail's pace.
Utter chaos
“I choose to drop both my kids to school in my four-wheeler every day. Despite starting early, I got them delayed for the school because there was heavy traffic in the morning,” said K.Venkat Rao, a parent from Kothapet.
School zones such as Abids faced utter chaos as parents parked their vehicles right on the main road, hindering the traffic flow.
Thankfully, the traffic police, who held a preparatory meeting on Saturday in view of the impending school traffic, managed to salvage the situation to some extent.
“As part of our plan of action, we instructed schools in various localities to allow parents' vehicles and autorickshaws inside their premises so that thoroughfares are left free for traffic. We visited various schools and asked the parents to park their vehicles in a single row if they had no other go,” informed C.V.Anand, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic).
He said there were 15 lakh additional vehicles-- school vans, parents' cars and auto-rickshaws among them--on roads on Monday after the reopening of schools.
Pedestrians face music
With many schools located in nooks and crannies of the city, even small lanes experienced heavy traffic flow.
Pedestrians had a difficult time in crossing the roads in the evening too as there was a mad rush of vehicles.
Areas such as Greenlands and Nampally experienced heavy traffic flow between 3.30 and 4 p.m. due to the exodus of schoolchildren.
There was a plan to deploy students from Classes VIII and IX to act as ‘school traffic commandos', said Mr.Anand. Select school children will don uniforms given by the Traffic Police and man traffic in front of the schools during peak hours.
Apart from regulating parking of cycles and two-wheelers they will also help children cross the road.
