The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : No trucks, no tension just pure driving pleasure

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Thursday, Jul 03, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

No trucks, no tension just pure driving pleasure

Staff Reporter

With lorry operators on strike, vehicle movement was hassle-free on roads that choke with heavy traffic otherwise

— PHOTO: NAGARA GOPAL

UNSUAL SIGHT: The national highway 9 is almost deserted as trucks went off the road on Wednesday.

HYDERABAD: It is rare that traffic flows smoothly on a working day in the city.

Thanks to the strike by truck operators, Wednesday turned out to be exactly that for thousands of commuters on the city outskirts.

Otherwise known for congestion, chaos and high volume of heavy vehicles, the roads at Jeedimetla, Balanagar, L.B. Nagar, Miyapur, Chandanagar, Bowenpally and Trimulgherry suddenly became congestion free. Journey via the Trimulgherry junction, which chokes with heavy traffic on normal days, was hassle-free.

Large number of heavy vehicles going from Lalbazar side to Uppal passes by this intersection daily.

Heavy vehicles turning left at this junction take a long time holding up the traffic every minute.

No queues

With hardly any big vehicles on the roads today, the junction was congestion free. There were no long queues of vehicles subjecting commuters to torturous wait for clearance.

The relief from chaotic traffic was more visible on roads connected to Jeedimetla and Balanagar around which many industrial units are located.

Movement of heavy vehicles is too high on these stretches due to loading and unloading of raw material at factories. With heavy vehicles keeping off the roads, the traffic flow was relatively smooth on these routes as well.

Fewer accidents

Same was the situation around L.B. Nagar. “Except for some lorries moving here and there, no heavy vehicle plied in the area making it easier to regulate traffic. The usual road accidents too were not reported,” L.B. Nagar Traffic Inspector V. Sridhar remarked.

Srinivas of Rio Club, who drives everyday from Bowenpally to Medchal in his car, could feel the difference. As lot of heavy vehicles join the mainstream of traffic, vehicles are forced to halt at many points like the narrow bridge near Suchitra bus stop and Kompally. “But today I drove without any halts from Bowenpally to Medchal,” he said.

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Andhra Pradesh