Rains that lashed the city of Hyderabad on Friday, resulted in massive traffic snarls as several commuters were stranded on the road for hours.
According to reports, the worst affected roads were Madhapur, Gachibowli, Biodiversity junction, JNTU, Kukatpally, Balanagar, Narsapur, RTC crossroads, Paradise, Khairatabad and Nampally.
Even areas like KBR Park, Punjagutta, Somajiguda and Begumpet witnessed inching traffic.
To make things worse, patchwork by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) was washed away in several areas, leaving behind massive potholes and cracked roads.
A senior traffic police officer told The Hindu that GHMC had taken up pothole filling on the stretch, which added to the woes of the commuters, as they had to face diversions and bottlenecks.
“As it was a Second Saturday and the flow of vehicles was expected to be less than weekdays, pothole filling exercise was taken up. But we have realised that sometimes, vehicular flow is unpredictable and can be much higher than expected,” the official said.
Telangana Today reported that till 8 pm, Rajendranagar received the most rainfall with 96.8 mm, followed by Shapurnagar with 42.6 mm, Qutbullahpur with 32.8 mm and Gajularamaram recording 24.3 mm.
The rains have only made it harder for the GHMC to fix the crumbling roads, as the bitumen and cement need time to dry, after laying the road.
"We are working on the potholes but with the continuous rains, the work has been delayed. To fill the potholes the roads should be dry and we are working area wise," GHMC Chief Engineer Ziauddin told mediapersons.
Speaking to TNM, a GHMC official had earlier said, “Internal roads and by-lanes are harder to manage during the rainy season because people will be letting out water on the road in many residential areas. Everything that overflows in residential areas during the rains overflows on the road."