The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Traffic goes for a toss at Imlibun station

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 26, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Traffic goes for a toss at Imlibun station

S. Sandeep Kumar

With only one approach road to the bus bay, vehicles get stuck in a jam

Helter skelter: With only one entrance to the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station, traffic chaos is common.

HYDERABAD: Blame it on the APSRTC for operating only one entrance to the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS). And with the traffic authorities failing to monitor the vehicles on the Gowliguda-Afzalgunj stretch, traffic goes for a toss on this stretch day in and day out.

A row of RTC buses and motorists honking horns incessantly after being stuck in jams welcome you on this stretch any time of the day. The situation worsens during festive season, when APSRTC operates additional buses.

Bridge needed

There is not much of road space on this stretch with shopkeepers occupying every bit of space available and traffic flow comes to a grinding halt whenever two RTC buses try to enter MGBS using the bridge which is the only entrance. There is a need to construct another bridge, says Ghouse Pasha, an autorickshaw driver.

RTC buses coming from Afzalgunj end are made to enter MGBS after taking a ‘U’ turn from a graveyard near the bridge and vehicles coming from Chaderghat are forced to stop for a while to make way for the buses. This delay in clearance, at times, leads to hours of traffic jams, points out V. Ranganayakulu, a resident of Gowliguda.

Similar is the situation on the Chaderghat - Kalikhaber road, where buses exit from the rear side of MGBS and directly join the traffic flow on the stretch.

Admitting the problem, ASPRTC Ranga Reddy Regional Manager K.S. Nagaraja Rao said on an average, 2800 buses enter MGBS daily carrying 80,000-odd passengers and there is only one entrance and exit for the bus complex. Two-wheelers, autorickshaws along with RTC buses use these bridges to get in and get out of the bus complex and with such limited road space, traffic jams are inevitable, especially at the Gowliguda end.

However, the region has requested the APSRTC Chairman M. Satyanarayana Rao to allow another road bridge from Rangmahal crossroads to maintenance depot in MGBS. This would provide another entrance to buses and ease traffic flow on the Gowliguda road. The proposal is expected to be presented in the next board meeting.

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