A combination of complacence and carelessness has transformed the P.V. Narsimha Rao Expressway, which was inaugurated with great jubilation late last year, into a death trap of sorts. With the streetlights not functioning for a good two kilometres of the 11.6-kilometre stretch leading to Shamshabad, Hyderabadis have to manoeuvre their way through the blind curves and turns on the flyover in pitch darkness.
A trip to the International Airport turned into a nightmarish experience for Swaminath Kumar, a student of SVCFA, due to the unlit stretch on the PVNR Expressway. “My friends and I were headed to the airport at 1 am. We found it difficult to negotiate the turns. With reduced visibility, we almost hit a stalled vehicle and had to swerve so suddenly that we nearly hit the flyover railings. It is shocking that the Expressway has non-functioning street lights.”
That’s not all. Some of the blinkers and hazard signs installed on the peripheries of the flyover hardly function. And coupled with the fact that the stretch is dark, it has become a high-risk accident zone. Avnit Karan, a banker who frequents this stretch, says, “With no lights, the expressway has become a dangerous stretch to drive.”
Harsha Dagubatti, a graphics designer, couldn’t agree more. “The risk is multiplied at night because of the speeding cars. With no source of light, it becomes difficult to drive on that stretch.”
When contacted, the HMDA authorities sent out a despatch team to check on the issue. Anand Mohan, executive engineer, HMDA, said after inspection, “There was an internal problem that was plaguing electric poles 169-175 and we are repairing them. The maintenance of the expressway is managed by contractors. On January 28, we had conducted a detailed reconnaissance of the flyover and we found no problems. Sometimes, however, due to tripping and overload, the electricity is stopped to protect the system. This could have been responsible for the lights not functioning.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment