“Is PM the only man who needs security? Where were you when blasts were triggered one after another? You create inconvenience to the common man for the safety of a PM, but where is safety to the general public,” an elderly person questioned a policeman deployed at a bylane at Malakpet.
His anger was not without reason. As a part of the security arrangements for prime minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the blasts site at Dilsukhnagar and also the hospitals where the victims are being treated, the police literally shut down the road from LB Nagar to Nalgonda crossroads from morning till afternoon. A curfew-like situation prevailed as police shutdown the stretch of road.
While Cyberabad police imposed restrictions on traffic from LB Nagar to Dilsukhnagar from 8 am to 2 pm, their Hyderabad counterparts closed down the road from 10 am, leaving the comman man fretting and fuming.
“All lanes leading to Malakpet main road were barricaded. Though the PM is scheduled to visit the area around 12 noon, police have restricted movement on the roads from the morning itself,” rued a motorist, A Mallikarjuna Rao, of Malakpet.
For those living near Yashoda Hospital and those working in the hospital, the police restrictions caused hardship. “They have erected barricades overnight preventing us from come on to the main road. In the name of security to the PM, they can not cause inconvenience to the common man. Even if I make it to the road by walk, I can’t get a bus or auto to reach Koti now,” said P Sudhakar Rao, a resident of Mohan Nagar.
Police erected barricades after midnight on all the roads leading to the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway. “I was bringing my father from airport to Malakpet and I can’t take the route towards Chandrayangutta, as the traffic was closed at Nalgonda crossroads. I had to come all the way from Mehdipatnam and the traffic was horrible there,” rued Vishwanath, an employee.
The pothole-ridden roads near Saroornagar police station and Dislukhnagar were re-laid overnight for the convenience of the visiting dignitary.
A new road was also laid hurriedly from the Victoria memorial home, where the PM’s chopper landed, connecting to Kothapet main road.