The National Highway-563 from Rayapatnam to Warangal via Karimnagar, said to be the lifeline for motorists in Karimnagar and Warangal districts, has turned from bad to worse in the last few years owing to poor maintenance.
The 70-km stretch from Karimnagar to Warangal city is riddled with potholes and it is nothing but a harrowing experience for road-users who commute on this road as travel time is longer than the usual.
Ideally, it takes about an hour to travel from Karimnagar to Warangal, but with the stretch being in a bad shape, the commuters have to be on road for more than two hours. Those who travel in TSRTC buses have the worst experience as drivers barely slow down when there is a pothole.
“I travel from Warangal to Huzurabad and the journey in bus is back-breaking. It’s a bumpy ride and we end up having back pain. Besides, the 30-km journey takes more than an hour,” said Geetha, a teacher from ZPHS, Jupaka.
Satish, a taxi-driver, said he was scared to travel on the Karimnagar-Warangal road as it has been in a bad shape for some time now. “Our work forces us to take this road every day and it’s nothing but an ordeal. Apart from the extended travel time, the vehicles that ply on the road get damaged. Though many have expressed their ire over the condition of the road, nothing has been done so far,” he said.
Manohar, a resident of Gattu Duddenapalli village in Manakondur mandal along the national highway, said the road from Rayapatnam to Warangal was laid using an Australian technology a decade ago. A few years ago, the R&B officials took up repairs to the road after Minister Eatala Rajender’s vehicle turned turtle at Edula Gattepalli in Manakondur mandal. But due to poor quality of road work, it soon got damaged again,” he said.
Lok Satta Udyama Samstha district president N. Srinivas said the Karimnagar-Warangal road was in a worst condition. Though the officials took up repairs, the road was damaged within a year, he said and wondered what were quality control and vigilance officials doing when contractors executed the work badly.
However, the R&B officials said they were unable to take up road repairs as the government has announced to convert the road into a four-lane stretch. “We will lay the road afresh only after calling for tenders for four-lane NH,” they maintained.
