It was a stressful day for 26-year-old Hosanna, who was working on October 2, while most of his friends were enjoying a public holiday. The already distressed financier had a rough day at the office, owing to excessive work due to inadequate staff. But the day wasn’t over yet.
To make matters worse when he was returning home to Marredpally from his office Invesco at around 8pm, he got caught in the heavy rain. However, a bigger surprise awaited him at the Punjagutta flyover that was flooded. Yes! A flyover was flooded.
Recounting the ordeal, Hosanna said, “It was my worst nightmare. I was already drenched. The water was up to my knees. Since I was on a two-wheeler, I was forced to stand in the water, while the traffic was moving at snail pace. It took me more than two hours to reach my home.”
Videos of the flyover have been doing the rounds on social media. Everyone was left wondering how a flyover could be flooded.
The Punjagutta flyover, which eases the commute for those travelling from Begumpet towards Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills, is used by many who work in Hyderabad and Cyberabad but reside in Secunderabad.
The Punjagutta Flyover is flooded again! #HyderabadRains pic.twitter.com/aXMnRT5rEA
— Venkat Parthasarathy (@Venkrek) October 2, 2017
The traffic near the Chief Minister’s camp office was already slow because of the clogged water in the low-lying areas of Kundanbagh. The flooded flyover further slowed down the traffic leading to commuters being stuck for hours in the rain.
It wasn’t just Hosanna who faced the ordeal, many motorists plying from Punjagutta towards Secunderabad shared similar experiences.
Johnson Kurian, a content writer, who works for a cybersecurity firm, said, “Fortunately I was in a car. But the water on the flyover had completely jammed the traffic coming from Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills. These are experiences which I face each time it rains in the city.”
Many of the commuters shared the videos saying that this was not the first instance of the Punjagutta flyover flooding. They pointed out that even last year in September, the flyover had flooded when it rained heavily.
Speaking to TNM, GHMC Executive Engineer said that the flyover could be inundated due to the apathy of the GHMC workers who clean the flyover.
Blaming the workers, he said, “These people are provided with trolleys to dump the soil and dust accumulated on the roads. But rather than disposing of the dust, they just broom the roads and leave the accumulated dust near the water outlets of the flyover, which would clog the water outlets. They do clean the roads diligently but do a halfhearted work. We have repeatedly educated them on what would happen if they don’t clear the soil on the roads. But they don’t pay heed to us,” he said.
Punjagutta Traffic, Station House Officer, Santosh Kiran too reiterated that the flood-like-situation was caused due to the water outlets being jammed.