Hyderabad, December 23: FREE flow of traffic in the twin cities is obstructed not just by narrow roads but also by the State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) and Aeroexpress bus shelters.
This has come to light in a recent study conducted by the traffic police at the behest of Chief Secretary P Ramakanth Reddy.
Police have identified approximately 150 bus shelters, including the ones at Lifestyle near Greenlands in Begumpet and NMDC near Mehdipatnam, which need to be relocated, and recommended to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to take the necessary steps.
Similarly, some of the Aeroexpress bus shelters constructed by GMR were found obstructive and were relocated on the recommendation of the traffic police. GMR, which operates Aeroexpress buses from various points in the city to the international airport at Shamshabad, had planned a bus shelter near City College in the Old City but the proposal was rejected by the police in view of the fact that the High Court road is already heavily congested. The bus-bay was then built at another location.
In an another case, an Aeroexpress bus shelter was set up near Hussiansagar lake where it was not permitted. It was relocated later to another place. “They had initially built the shelter on the left side of the APTDC office. The road becomes narrow at that point and traffic jams occur there frequently. So we have asked GMR to relocate the shelter near the main entrance of the office of the tourism corporation,’’ Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) A Ravi Chandra told Expresso.
Police have also identified a few Aeroexpress shelters which were constructed in excess of the actual permitted size on the footpath, and thus causing traffic jams.
Further, the city police have recommended `pelican crossing’ at 60 locations in the twin cities to help pedestrians but officials of GHMC have been sitting on the proposal. `Pelican crossing’ will be of great help to old-age people in crossing the road. “We have identified 30 locations where works have to be taken up on priority basis,’’ Ravi Chandra said. At places like Secretariat, crossing of road has been a problem to people at large and Secretariat employees in particular.
–Agencies