Hyderabad: Uppal main road turns into nightmare for commuters

The sorry state of the Uppal main road is in addition to the huge plumes of dust that envelope the main road, resulting in poor visibility and unsafe driving

Hyderabad: While the Telangana government transformed Hyderabad into a world-class city by completing over 31 Strategic Road Development Programme (SRDP) projects on time, the projects taken-up by the Centre, on the other hand are underway at a snail’s pace and at the cost of the public’s convenience.

One such project that has been dragging-on for a long time and has become a major pain-point and annoying for people in Hyderabad is the six-lane flyover from Uppal to Narapally, being developed by Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

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Thanks to the flyover works, the busy road below that connects Uppal crossroads and Medipally which is over 7 km in length has turned into a nightmare for commuters, local residents and hawkers.

On the stretch (both ways) numerous potholes have mushroomed, the bitumen layer has eroded and water logging points have become a common sight besides uneven road surfaces that have worsened the woes of the commuters.

The sorry state of the Uppal main road is in addition to the huge plumes of dust that envelope the main road, resulting in poor visibility and unsafe driving. For the past one-year, the local residents and commuters travelling towards Bibinagar and Yadadri on this stretch are suffering.

The onus of maintaining the stretch lies with the Union government and speaking to Telangana Today, senior officials said that notices have also been sent.

“The responsibility to maintenance the road corridor that lies under the ongoing project lies with the agency involved in the execution of the project. We have sent several notices to restore the road but in vain. As a result, we have now decided to restore the road with State government funds and deduct the money from the deposits of the agency following all the norms,” a senior State government official said.

To avoid getting sick from heavy dust, commuters cover their face either with a piece of cloth or a handkerchief. Besides commuters, hawkers who spend the entire day along the main road for their business are the worst sufferers. After crossing Uppal crossroads on the way to Medipally, there are numerous fruit stalls and other food joints who sit in the dust with no option left.

“Commuters might have the option of using alternative routes but I don’t have a choice as this fruit stall is my only source of income. We already suffer in summer due to harsh weather and this dust has further increased our hardships,” says a vendor on that road.

A regular motorist near Nallacheruvu, R Ramu says that the health of regular commuters is at stake due to the bad condition of the road. “Our lives are at stake due to poor visibility and bad road conditions. Frequent back pains and lung infections due to heavy dust has become common,” he said.