HYDERABAD: With a relatively warm sun beating down her neck, Haritha, a final-year engineering student, waits anxiously at Uppal X Roads. Standing amidst the din of blaring horns — the traffic reduced to a trickle — she blames the slow progress of the flyover construction in the Uppal junction as the primary reason for the traffic congestion during peak hours.
The Uppal X Roads, an important junction in the city, serves as a gateway to four different routes — the highway to Warangal, LB Nagar, Secunderabad and Ramanthapur. It is also close to the cricket stadium, schools, colleges, residential colonies and offices. Works are underway for the second-level flyover to Medipally, aimed at easing the traffic towards Warangal and Yadadri. Additionally, the administration built a 660-metre-long skywalk to connect the Uppal Metro Station to nearby bus stops without affecting vehicular traffic. However, despite the slew of measures taken to address traffic congestion, Uppal X Roads remains a bottleneck during peak hours, causing delays for commuters and residents alike.
“I started my engineering course three years back and I think the flyover construction has been going on since then,” Haritha shares. “Once the works are completed, the situation is going to get better. However, when will that happen,” she questions.
“Tentatively, the project will be completed by December 2024,” reads a document that was presented during a recent Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) review meeting by district in-charge minister Ponnam Prabhakar.
Despite that, many say that even if the works are completed by the end of December, numerous structural issues will continue to affect commuters passing through the Uppal junction.
“The flyover construction has only created a temporary bottleneck. There is already a permanent bottleneck in the form of Muslim graveyards by the junction,” says a police officer, who cautiously clarifies that there is no ill intention in his statement.
“Consider the LB Nagar bus stand nearby,” explains Yellesh, a security guard responsible for clearing the area near a lift leading to the skywalk. “The designated bus bay is intended for district buses arriving from Warangal. However, just before reaching the bay, city buses heading towards LB Nagar also halt,” he adds.
On top of that, auto-rickshaw and cab drivers often crowd around the bus stand, adding to the congestion. “Rest, you can imagine how this junction will be during the holidays,” he comments.
But to the commuters who take the buses from the bus stand, the location of the stop is not a major concern. “It is due to the delayed flyover construction,” asserts Anitha, a college student from Nacharam.
Amidst these challenges, many commuters prefer the Metro Rail services to travelling by road in Uppal. “For the last three years, I have been taking the Metro train from Begumpet to Uppal. It has been a blessing, I feel more people should take the Metro or consider carpooling,” says Shilpa, a computer science teacher at NGIT College. “The traffic is hectic during the morning rush hours from 8.30 am to 11 am, and again in the evening around 4.30 pm. This happens as a lot of colleges and offices are situated around this area,” she adds.
According to sources, the Uppal Metro Station consistently ranks among the top 10 busiest Metro stations in Hyderabad. With several private companies situated in and around Uppal, many companies have arranged for shuttle bus services in a bid to make Metro a more viable option for employees.
Pedestrians to blame?
In June 2023, the HMDA completed the construction of a one-of-its-kind skywalk for Rs 25 crore near the Uppal X Roads. With six entry and exit points, it was supposed to help pedestrians navigate the busy traffic junction.
However, the police personnel posted at the location say that this objective is yet to be realised. “We have placed a public announcement (PA) system at the centre of the junction asking people to use the skywalk to avoid accidents. We have also put up several posters in and around the junction about the facility. However, not many people are using it,” states a senior traffic police personnel.
When TNIE visited the junction, nearly 70 pedestrians took the streets to cross the busy junction within five minutes. This is despite having easy access to the lifts to the skywalk.
Questioned why they are not using the skywalk, a pedestrian says, “It’s quicker to cross the road than climb the stairs, walk around the skywalk and get down again.”
Another one passes by saying, “Even if there is a lift or an escalator to get to the skywalk, the escalator or lift to get down from the skywalk is under repair.”
However, Naveen, a photographer visiting Uppal for an event, states, “I blame the pedestrians in the skywalk issue. Not everything is the administration’s fault. They have developed infrastructure to help solve the problem but it is the people who are not using it. If it were up to me, I would ask the traffic police to not just take photos of traffic violators on two-wheelers or cars, they should also be stringent with the pedestrians who are causing disturbances on the street despite having a skywalk.”
A young couple getting out of a skywalk lift opines, “Most people who use the skywalk are doing it because they use the Metro or they simply want photographs against the backdrop. Those who do not need to use the Metro just cross the road.”
However, another security guard posted at the Metro station says, “I wouldn’t say people aren’t using the skywalk. The situation is slightly better now. More people are taking the lift and using the skywalk. But the situation could be better.”
Put up permanent grills, propose police
The police believe that there is a need for immediate intervention to remedy the situation. The traffic cops recently sent a proposal to the GHMC stating, “It is observed that most of the pedestrians are crossing on the road by scaling the garden in the middle of the Metro pillars. Accidents are being reported and traffic congestion is also there during peak hours. Because of this, the aim of constructing a skywalk is not fulfilled.”
To combat this, the cops have requested the civic body to put up permanent iron grills or barricades across the pillars so that people make use of the skywalk. “Hopefully, at least then, the pedestrians will stop crossing roads and blocking the traffic during peak hours,” says a traffic cop.