Traffic bottleneck at Gowlidoddi near Hyderabad’s IT corridor cries for attention

Hours of daily congestion at this road stretch at Gowlidoddi

Hyderabad: During the rush hours on weekdays, this particular stretch of road between Financial District and Tellapur in the western part of Hyderabad descends into utter chaos. With motorists having to navigate their way out of a narrow road, this traffic bottleneck has become a significant challenge in their daily commute.

Around 500 metres of this stretch at Gowlidoddi, located in close proximity to the IT hub, witnesses hours of congestion every morning and evening. In addition to being a constricted passage, there are multiple encroachments on either side with no road dividers.

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For Koushik, an IT employee who travels from BHEL to the Financial District five days a week, driving through this road is a frustrating experience. “From BHEL to Gowlidoddi (around 11 kms) it takes me 20 minutes, but just to cross this 500 meters it takes 20 to 30 minutes. It’s the same situation when I return home from work. When the city is growing, they must also improve the infrastructure,” he says.

In recent years, this part of the city has grown exponentially due to the IT boom. With that, vehicular movement has also spiked, leaving these previously village roads underprepared for an urban setting. Multiple employees residing in Tellapur, Nallagandla, BHEL, Gopanpally, Vattinagulapally, and nearby areas commute towards Gachibowli for work.

An obvious solution for this would be to widen the road. However, this is marred with multiple complications. “More than three years back, we widened the roads here but this stretch couldn’t be done. There are so many difficulties like funds for acquisitions. If we can move these buildings five feet inside, the problem will be solved. But these things take a lot of time,” says a town planning official.

He adds that the roadside sellers taking up space is also a major challenge. “We along with traffic police try to move them, but they come back and set up shop again. We can’t even move them forcefully.”

However, traffic movement could be better regulated with road dividers which are absent. Traffic police are currently managing the flow with the help of barricades which they are forced to move and adjust daily, according to the vehicle intensity.