Hyderabad roads, a driver’s nightmare

Hyderabad: A 23-year-old businessperson, Naveen Yandapalli, was driving his scooter with a flat rear tyre on the wrong side of the road under Masab Tank Flyover.

The tyre on his vehicle had got punctured for the fifth time in a week due to the sharp bumps on the road.

“I have no option but to take the risk,” Rajeev said, “I have spent about Rs 800 on puncture repair in one week. But this time the tyre just burst after hitting a pothole near NMDC office. I will have to replace it altogether.”

“Tyre bursts suddenly create a dangerous situation. A scooter or bike can skid badly, which can even cause a fatal accident,” said Mohd Muneer, a puncture repairman.

Just a day ago on Monday, a TSRTC bus rammed into a Metro pillar near Ameerpet as one of its tyres burst. The bus went out of control and four passengers ended up with injuries.

It’s becoming clear potholed roads of Hyderabad not just make driving difficult, they damage vehicles and can also be a safety hazard for the driver and pedestrians.

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Heavy rains lash Hyderabad, Many areas Waterloggeddriver

Patch up and cover’ no good

The government’s plan to spend big on ‘do-it-now’ Road infrastructure never saw light of day, and is not likely to happen in the near future.

At the moment the GHMC is suffering from funds crunch. And so for years now it has taken the easy way out by patching up potholes without re-carpeting the entire broken stretch.

In August, Mayor Bonthu Rammohan had asked for sanction of Rs 50 crore to fill up over 5,000 potholes using what they called ‘high-quality bitumen’ and advanced technologies like Vacuum Dewatered Cement Concrete (VDCC) machines.

But after all the talk, roads in the city remain cratered.

More rain, worse roads

The IMD warned of rain in all districts of Telangana including Hyderabad till September 25. With more rain
forecast, more potholes are likely to emerge in the city, while the repair work would be at halted till the rain stops.

TRIMULGHERRY 6.1 CM
KEESARA5.9 CM
BALAJINAGAR5.5 CM
MALKAJGIRI 5.3 CM
ASIFNAGAR 5.2 CM
YOUSUFGUDA 5.1 CM
JUBILEE HILLS 5.1 CM
MAREDPALLY 4.5 CM
MUSHEERABAD 4.5 CM
UPPAL 4 CM
KHAIRATABAD 3.9 CM
HIMAYATHNAGAR 3.9 CM

City-based civil engineer Niranjan says potholes often begin as imperceptible, barely recognisable cracks on the road, which after being exposed to the sun and rain, widen the cracks. The wear and
tear caused by vehicles loosens the surface to form potholes.

Authored by Mohammed Hussain, mohammedhussain.reporter@gmail.com Twitter: @writetohussain