Months-long SNDP excavation chokes key L.B. Nagar corridor in Hyderabad

Deep excavation works under the Strategic Nala Development Programme (SNDP) in Hyderabad have continued for months despite the monsoon, causing inconvenience to commuters.

One such bottleneck is near Bairamalguda in L.B. Nagar, where excavation has reduced the carriageway to a narrow stretch for motorists travelling from B.N. Reddy Nagar and Hastinapuram towards Bairamalguda and the L.B. Nagar junction.

The stretch, which connects Outer Ring Road (ORR) with the city, experiences continuous traffic throughout the day, due to which the bottleneck is causing frustration among commuters. The situation only worsens during heavy rain.

“I travel every day to the city for work, and this logjam has been testing my patience for the past three months. Traffic is stalled for 15-20 minutes, and the impact is felt further ahead too,” says Ch. Ayyappa, a commuter.

The stretch is also a prominent bus route, with several services from Ibrahimpatnam and surrounding areas passing through it, ferrying college students, office-goers and daily wage labourers.

“I usually take bus to college, but since the road was dug up, I started taking out my father’s two wheeler to circumvent the traffic while returning,” shares Advaith Kumar, student of a private college in Manneguda.

“The whole road is barricaded on and off up to Karmanghat, which slows down traffic. One more issue is with the buses of an international school nearby which take a short cut by driving on the wrong side. They actually worsen the problem,” says Y. Jyotsna, another commuter.

A ban is routinely imposed by civic authorities on road cutting permissions ahead of monsoon every year, to avoid any untoward incident. The ban, however, is not adhered to when it comes to the civil works related to the respective municipal corporations.

Engineering officials from SNDP wing explained that the works pertained to a storm water drain from Sagar road up to Bairamalguda Lake. They got delayed as they were lined up after another work which took longer than expected. As of now, the manholes are being cast, and it may be completed in a week.