Metro pillars turn city roads into death traps

Traffic police have identified at least 50 such spots

The Metro Rail’s advantages may be many, but its one singular design error poses a grave danger to commuters. A study done by Hyderabad traffic police on accident-prone zones in the city listed the pillars of the Metro Rail viaduct as a huge risk. As a result, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation may have to bear additional financial burden to rectify the problems created by the erroneous design.

Hyderabad traffic DCP A.V. Ranganath said that after the accident involving Nishith Narayana, the traffic wing took up a survey-cum-study of Metro Rail pillars. “We have identified 50 accident-prone areas where one or more Metro Rail pillars may lead to accidents at each of these places”, he said.

Mr Ranganath said that after several consultations with the inner team, the traffic wing has come up with a few solutions. It has sent a list of the dangerous pillars along with suggestions to both the GHMC and Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited.

“We have divided the list into two parts – first priority and second priority. We will discuss alternatives with both the GHMC and HMRL officials as to what steps should be taken at steep curves and where the road re-alignments, speed breakers and signboards should be put up,” he said.

GHMC commissioner B. Janardhan Reddy has said that the government is in the process of organising a ‘convergence’ meeting with all the departments, including the GHMC, HMRL and the traffic police. A meeting would be held on the first and third Saturdays of every month, to discuss road issues.

“We will discuss the study report submitted by the traffic department. The last time we spoke about the vulnerable points in the city along the Metro Rail corridors. In the next few meetings, we will come up with a solid plan on what is to be done about the new accident-prone areas created due to the metro pillars”, he said. We have divided the list into first priority and second priority. We will discuss with the GHMC and HMRL officials as to what steps should be taken at steep curves and where the road realignments, speed breakers and signboards should be put.