HYDERABAD: Another flyover in the city is now under scrutiny by the municipal and traffic authorities as it has claimed the lives of at least five persons in a span of nine months. Inaugurated in April, the one-km flyover connecting the JNTU and Malaysian Township is under the scanner to set the seal on its safety.The review of the flyover has been taken up in the wake of the recent accident on the stretch on January 3 where a biker rammed a parked SUV and died on the spot. It comes close on the heels of the State government involving private agencies to analyse the Biodiversity Flyover and recommend safety features for the same. Post the inspection, a system has been put in place where an automated voice message across the flyover informs the commuters of their vehicle’s speed, rumble strips and others to make the commute safe.
Now, the JNTU flyover is being scrutinised on similar lines by a third party agency hired by the contractor who built the flyover. According to the officials of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), a delegation conducted a thorough check of the flyover on January 4, and would submit a report on its safety features soon.
“In nine months, five bikers lost their life on the flyover. We are yet to ascertain the causes for the accidents. But none of the victims were wearing helmet during the accidents and that could have led to their death,” said N Bose Kiran, SHO Kukatpally traffic police.He said of the five accidents, three were non-contact ones where the two-wheelers either skidded or hit the median, and did not collide with another vehicle. “This is indicative of the fact that the motorists may have been speeding.”
At present, the police have no mechanism to report violations on the flyover as there are no CCTV cameras along the stretch or the provision for the traffic police to manually monitor the flyover. The traffic police have roped in the GHMC to provide basic infrastructure to curb accidents on the flyover. “We have placed several sign boards along the flyover to caution drivers against it, but they hardly heed the advice,” said Inspector Srinivas, Road Traffic Accident Cell of the Cyberabad Traffic Cell.
74 fined for lane violation on Biodiversity flyover
With the Biodiversity flyover open again, the Cyberabad Traffic police are now tracking the lane violations as well. A day after the flyover was reopened, nearly 74 lane indiscipline violations were recorded through their surveillance system on the flyover. As per the new rules, two-wheelers must keep extreme left while the 4-wheelers can use the middle and right lanes on the unidirectional flyover. If they fail to do so, they will be penalised `200 for the violations