Rains chip away at city roads

Traffic slows down to a crawl with water-logging and poor road conditions at many places in the city

Bad road conditions prevail near the RTC Bhavan in Hyderabad on Wednesday. — Photo: G. Ramakrishna

It’s an annual affair. Even before citizens can enjoy the onset of monsoon, city roads are riddled with potholes, eroded carriageways and water-logging. Wednesday proved no different as motorists across the city faced hardships while commuting to their destinations.

While traffic slowed to a crawl on almost all major thoroughfares, two-wheeler riders were particularly hit with the roads engulfed with dust and sand in the morning.

“Each year, authorities promise that they are prepared to face the monsoon but roads get eroded with the slightest of rains,” P. Kranti Kumar, a BPO employee, complained. Those on two-wheelers face greater risk of riding on slippery surfaces, he added.

The incessant drizzle only added to the commuters’ woes as many roads were water-logged.

“Most roads and junctions in the city had partial water-logging, particularly on the edges of the road, because of which traffic slowed down considerably. For a commute that usually takes about an hour, I had to spend more than double the time,” C. Praveen Kumar, another private employee complained. Instead of laying roads properly, civic authorities fill potholes and cracks with mud and sand, which starts eroding in the rains, he observed.

Cops on alert

While motorists had a tough time commuting, traffic police were in full attendance on the roads, regulating vehicular movement.

“Rains do play havoc with roads, but motorists too try to overtake each other even in the reduced carriageway causing traffic jams. We had to keep a constant lookout for problem areas to maintain smooth traffic flow,” a police official said.

The civic authorities should swing into action immediately to repair these bad roads, he said.