The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Not a ‘thorough’fare this!

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Saturday, Aug 09, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Not a ‘thorough’fare this!

Staff Reporter

The state of National Highway 9 is nothing short of misery for commuters

Potholes, courtesy recent rain, are huge enough to prove fatal
Stagnant rainwater on either side of the road in city creates hell for pedestrians

— Photo: K. Ramesh Babu

Nerve-racking: Vehicle-users put to inconvenience due to the bad stretch on the highway at the entrance of Vanasthalipuram colony.

HYDERABAD: The mention of ‘highway’ brings to mind the picture of a spacious straight line of black top emerging incessantly from the horizon as one pursues it further and further.

The promise of a smooth ride is taken for granted on a highway unless the vehicle in question is in absolute rickety condition. However, part of the National Highway 9 from Hyderabad to Vijayawada is a perfect antithesis to this given presumption.

With the recent spell of rain digging sizeable potholes into the surface and the black top turning into a heap of gravel at a few points, the road of late, appears badly in need of a facelift.

Tense moments

“The stretch from L. B. Nagar to Abdullapurmet used to be a joyous ride on a four-wheeler. On weekends, I would go up to Film City with friends and family members just for the fun of it. But of late, the ride is interspersed with tense moments for the driver with pot holes big enough for a car to fit in,” complains P. Shashidhar Rao, a real estate dealer who stays at Pragathinagar near L. B. Nagar.

Dead pace

Indeed, the speeding vehicles have to switch gears and manoeuvre at a dead pace to avoid getting wedged in the occasional gaping hole. Any unsuspecting soul zapping at usual pace, could be in for a near-fatal bump once the vehicle hits the bad patch. For a two-wheeler rider, the stretches could prove to be back-breaking.

Those riding in a car most often try to circumvent the bad patch creating trouble for pedestrians and resulting in traffic jams even during the early hours.

Added to the problem is the stagnant rain water on both sides of the road, which does not allow much space to proceed for either the pedestrians or the vehicles.

Peak hour traffic

The road is especially bad at certain points such as near the right turn into Vanasthalipuram and also at the Kothapet fruit market.

The going gets even tougher during the peak hours when traffic is heavy.

“I helped a car or two come out of the pot holes on my way. The road was not this bad in the past.

The recent rains have played spoilsport making the journey highly risky,” said Saidaiah, the driver of a private goods carrier.

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