HYDERABAD: You won’t know how deep the water is unless you get into it. This literally was the risk denizens travelling on Sunday had to take. With incessant rain lashing the twin cities for the second day running, waterlogged roads and overflowing drains were a common sight. Being a Sunday, vehicular traffic was less compared to weekdays. However, roads were not free from traffic jams. The entire stretch from Punjagutta through Begumpet to Secunderabad was jam-packed. With the downpour unabated, impatient drivers jumped traffic signals while pedestrians stood helpless on pavements as crossing roads seemed impossible. Flyovers had no respite as vehicles had to inch their way in the rain. Roadside vendors packed up their stalls early in the evening. Shops and malls in the city looked unusually deserted for a weekend, as many chose to stay warm indoors rather than venture out.While traffic cops braved the rain and stood in the middle directing vehicles, people used police kiosks as shelters. The space beneath the flyover also served as a parking lot and shelter in many places. The road in front of chief minister’s camp office was a puddle hard to wade through while in front of Shopper’s Stop, it was inundated with drain water. Interior roads in Begumpet, Punjagutta and Ameerpet were a mess. An army of workers attempted to shove aside a pond of water in front RS Brothers in Ameerpet. Potholes, open manholes and garbage strewn all over the road made travel a nightmare.Traffic came to a standstill on Secunderabad-Tarnaka road with heavy water-logging on the stretch. The extended road in Mettuguda lined with rubble from demolished buildings made driving a risky experience. The road near National Institute of Nutrition was submerged in gushing knee-deep water. Absence of streetlights put pedestrians at risk while trying to cross the road. Navigating the railway underpass near Rail Nilayam was a challenge. Road-widening works everywhere presented a shabby picture. The widened roads are uneven with the extended part at a lower level than the older ones. Manouevering vehicles near Lakdi-ka-pul over bridge became extra difficult, as the road was filled with potholes. Meanwhile, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy directed the GHMC commissioner MT Krishna Babu to immediately depute his team to minimize travel hurdles in the city. He went around many areas in the city including Afzalgunj, Chaderghat, Malakpet, Moosarambagh, Nampally, Golnaka and Raj Bhavan road to personally see the plight of roads during rains. He instructed officials to pump out water from inundated roads. He asked them to see that all nalas and manholes are cleared immediately to check water-logging.
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