Fender to fender traffic between Somajiguda and Begumpet on Thursday afternoon due to the swearing in ceremony being held in L.B. Stadium.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The swearing-in of the new Congress government in Telangana turned the traffic flow in the city into a nightmare for commuters. The gridlock around the L.B. stadium, Lakdi-ka-pul and surrounding areas spilled over and traffic up to Masab Tank, Mehdipatnam and MJ Market was heavy for hours.
Congestions and slow movement of vehicles were witnessed across the city till around 9 p.m.. Traffic police officials said an unexpected number of people showed up for the swearing-in. “The people attending the ceremony had parked their vehicles on the road in a hurry to rush to the venue, causing a block to regular flow of traffic. We were still able to control and streamline the flow as and when the jams occurred at different pockets. The Lakdi-ka-pul, Tank Bund, Begumpet, Somajiguda, Jubilee Hills and Khairatabad stretch witnessed slow movement of traffic till late evening,” said the official.
Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, who was on her way to administer the oath of office to the new Chief Minister, was also struck in the traffic, while several MLAs had to walk to the venue. The Hyderabad police, which had issued a traffic advisory on Wednesday, had to post an update asking people to avoid the LB stadium route.
“Telangana Governor also stuck in traffic outside LB Stadium ahead of #RevanthReddy swearing in as Chief Minister,” said one of the posts on X (formerly Twitter).
“Due to Oath of New CM of TS at LB Stadium & VIP movement, vehicle movement is slow from Battery Line, Bazar Ghat, Ek Minar, Nampally X road, towards Public Garden, Gun Park, Assembly. Nampally Traffic police are available and regulating traffic (sic),” read the post by the Hyderabad Traffic police.
Worried students of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), appearing for an exam at the Nizam College, also posted on X tagging the traffic police.
“There is a traffic logjam from Lakdikapul to Nizam College. Exam starts at 2:00 PM and google map is showing 40 mins to reach Nizam College. @OfficialIGNOU there is an exam today. Request IGNOU to take a note of the traffic jam and allow students if they are late to the exam (sic),” said one of the post.
