The flyover near Biodiversity Park in Gachibowli, which had been closed to traffic for over a month following a car accident, was reopened on Saturday, with a ban on taking selfies and a fine of ₹1,100 on overspeeding.
Mayor Bonthu Rammohan, along with senior officials of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, inspected the flyover and had it reopened to vehicles.
Speed limit on the flyover was fixed at 40 kmph, after two accidents in which three persons were killed by overspeeding vehicle-riders.
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The expert committee constituted to pore over the design aspects of the structure had suggested a string of measures to control speed, and inspected it and taken test-ride 10-12 times to oversee their implementation.
On their December 25 visit, they had pointed out certain non-conformities to the Indian Road Congress guidelines, and got them fixed by the GHMC.
On December 30, the committee members had taken a test-ride on the flyover and expressed satisfaction over the measures, a statement by the GHMC said.
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As per the committee’s recommendations, measures such as additional rumble strips, bar markings, signs about carriageway reduction, merging traffic ahead, speed limit markings, warning signs, side view-cutters, and public announcements about safety were put in place. The height of the crash barriers was raised to 3.5 feet, for a distance of 100 metres along the flyover near the curves.
Traffic to be observed
The committee would observe traffic and commuters’ behaviour on the flyover for the next one month and suggest further measures, if any, the statement said.
The flyover was one of the several structures planned under the Strategic Road Development Plan, a project for facilitating signal-free traffic in the city.
Within a week of its launch, the flyover saw its first accident, in which two persons taking selfie were rammed to death by a drunk techie riding an over-speeding car.
About a week later, the second accident took place, in which a car driven at a high speed flew off the flyover and fell on a woman underneath, resulting in her instant death.
Cyberabad Commissioner of Police V. C. Sajjanar, who attended the re-opening, said criminal cases would be slapped against those taking selfies on the flyover. Serilingampally zonal commissioner D. Hari Chandana, and chief engineer (projects) R.Sreedhar too attended the programme.
To be closed at night
The flyover will remain closed at night, said Cyberabad police. The development came after the GHMC gave clearance to the police. A senior officer told The Hindu that motorists can use the flyover only between 7.30 a.m. and 10.30 p.m.
“Every day, the flyover will be closed after 10.30 p.m. as we believe commuters will halt their vehicles on it to take pictures of highrises or click selfies,” he said.
Meanwhile, though no over-speeding challans were issued on Saturday, police booked three heavy vehicles for getting on the flyover.