Copyright thehindu
A rain-soaked Wednesday triggered by Cyclone Montha brought Hyderabad’s traffic to a near crawl, with over 1.3 million vehicles recorded on city’s IT corridor alone by 6 p.m. Despite advisories for staggered office hours, the city’s arterial routes, especially across Cyberabad and central Hyderabad, remained packed throughout the day. According to data shared by the Cyberabad traffic police, of the 1.3 million vehicles, cars made up 50% of the total while 24% were two-wheelers. Officials reported a 30% increase in cars and 8% rise in auto-rickshaws compared to normal days, attributing the spike to continuous rain that drove more commuters to use personal and covered transport. Traffic peaked during two time slots — 8 a.m. to 12 noon, and 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. To mitigate the evening rush, the Business Resilience Command and Control of the Society for Cyberabad Security Council (SCSC) advised companies to allow early/ staggered logouts from 3:30 p.m. It had earlier issued a similar advisory encouraging staggered logins to ease morning congestion. Madhapur Traffic DCP T. Sai Manohar said the advisories helped manage traffic more efficiently than expected. “By 8 p.m., there was only regular traffic on the roads. No gridlock was reported. The IT traffic, which typically eases by 8.30–9 p.m., cleared by around 6.30 p.m.,” he noted. Over 1,200 Cyberabad traffic personnel were deployed across key junctions throughout the day to manage traffic and assist commuters through waterlogged stretches. Four major waterlogging points emerged across Cyberabad: University of Hyderabad Gate 2, a new choke point for those travelling from IIIT towards Lingampally, State Bank of India at Parvath Nagar, Malkam Cheruvu on the Khajaguda-Shaikpet stretch, and Gopanpally towards Gowlidodi near the Hyundai Motors showroom. Meanwhile, key congestion hotspots included Gachibowli main road (from Bicha Reddy Sweets to Maulana Azad National Urdu University), Masjid Banda, Trident Hotel and Medicover Hospital, both on either side of the Hitec City Main Road, ADP Private Limited in Nanakramguda, Indira Nagar in Gachibowli, Udupi and Radisson Hotel following the recently opened P. Janardhan Reddy Flyover, and the stretch between AMB Mall and Radisson Hotel. In Hyderabad, rainwater stagnation near Mehdi Function Hall and MJ Market caused significant slowdowns in and around Lakdi-ka-pul and Nampally. Traffic congestion was also reported at the Ayodhya junction, PTI Building, Masab Tank flyover, NMDC and SD Hospital up to Mehdipatnam. Hyderabad Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) D. Joel Davis said overall traffic volume was about 20% lower than usual, which helped keep the situation under control. “The traffic movement was slower due to continuous rains,. However, no gridlock or major traffic jams were reported,” he noted.
