HYDERABAD: If you are planning to travel across Telangana via the National or State highways be warned. The roads, battered by rains, are so bad that you could end up risking your life. Apart from that, many stretches are found to be lacking lighting and proper signages, making driving a harrowing experience for commuters.
The steel barricades, that prevent animals from entering the highways, are missing at several stretches of both National and State highways. As a result, bovines often stray into the middle of roads posing a serious threat to vehicles travelling in high speed. Ironically, earlier this year, the Centre increased the maximum speed limit for cars travelling on national highways to 100 kmph.
Several villages, that sit alongside the highways, do not have an underpass or subway facility. As a result, vehicles and pedestrians from these villages risk their lives while crossing the road. They say they often have to dodge speeding vehicles to get to the other side. Passengers travelling in buses too have a hard time as even basic amenities like toilets are hard to find.
“The roads are badly damaged and riddled with potholes, on both State and National Highways,” says transport vehicle driver N Tirupati. “I recently travelled from Warangal to Kothagudem via NH30. It was so badly damaged to some stretches that it took me to double to time to reach my destination.”
Moreover, Tirupati adds, the stretch has so many accident-prone zones and sharp curves but only a few of them actually have any radium signages. It’s difficult to gauge the turn during night times. Also, he says, there are no speed breakers ahead of junctions where the highways cross villages.
“The Road Safety Authority set up by Telangana government has not conducted a single meeting with us to discuss the issues which we face on highways in the State,” says S Rajashekar Reddy, president of Telangana Petroleum Tankers Association. “Driving through Telangana is a dangerous affair. As there are no steel barricades, cattle often enter roads to feed on plants in the median space. At times, they suddenly jump on to the roads, sending speeding drivers into a tizzy.” Reddy says the stretch from Hyderabad to Choutppal is nothing but a “death trap”.
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