The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Rain lashes city; traffic choked at many places

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Friday, Jun 13, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Rain lashes city; traffic choked at many places

Staff Reporter

Bus commuters have harrowing time

Photos: Satish H.

Chill that thrills: A woman is caught in the heavy rain in front of the Secretariat in Hyderabad on Thursday —

HYDERABAD: Strong gales turned into soft patter of raindrops and in no time grew into a torrential downpour on Thursday evening putting an end to all speculations about the arrival of monsoons. The showers were cheerfully welcomed by the summer-scorched souls of the city despite the resultant problems galore.

Traffic-stranded citizens on their way home tuned on to their favourite FM radio channels and listened to typical Bollywood and Tollywood rain songs to suit the mood. Those who were lucky reached early and those who were not faced the wrath of RTC and auto drivers.

“I have been waiting for the bus to BHEL for the last 45 minutes. After a visit to my relatives’ home there, I had to catch the bus back to Rajahmundry by 10 p.m. Not even a single bus to either BHEL or anywhere else turned up so far,” said P. Simhadri Rao, a worried visitor to the city at Dilsukhnagar.

The situation was replicated elsewhere too and bus stops were crammed with waiting passengers.

Long wait for buses

Understandably, the buses were held up in heavy traffic jams that marked the day. Even the ones which arrived after much wait were fully packed and hardly allowed any foot space.

Taking the crowds as an excuse, drivers did not halt the buses at the scheduled stops much to the dismay of the waiting passengers. Auto drivers had a field day, charging exorbitant rates from the hapless people.

“I had to shell out Rs.100 to travel from Nampally to Begumpet in an auto-rickshaw. That appeared reasonable as others were asking Rs.150. I tried to haggle with them, but they were adamant,” complained P. Sudharani, a housewife.

Slow traffic

Though the roads largely looked free from inundation, traffic moved at a very slow pace on many stretches. Vehicles were stranded for a long time on main routes such as Raj Bhavan-Begumpet, Masab Tank-Banjara Hills, and Khairatabad-Kukatpally causing much inconvenience to the passengers.

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