The long queue leading to a petrol bunk led to traffic jam on Road Number 12, Banjara Hills, in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL
Traffic flow was affected on Tuesday afternoon as soon as the run on fuel stations began.
The police had to block a few roads and divert traffic in the ensuing chaos.
At Shaikpet, Langar House, Nanal Nagar, Film Nagar, Road No. 12 Banjara Hills and many other locations in the city, the parked vehicles in the queue led to traffic blockades.
The delays ranged between 54 minutes on the busy NH 163 that runs through Hyderabad and 36-minute slowdown on the PVNR Expressway.
Gachibowli- Miyapur road, Kaifi Azmi Road, Inner Ring Road were other road stretches where the slowdowns exceeded 30-minutes mark.
The Hyderabad Traffic Police kept issuing regular updates of various locations where traffic flow was affected from 2.40 p.m. onwards. “Due to heavy flow of traffic, vehicle movement is slow from Masab Tank X Road, Mahaveer, PTI, Ayodhya, towards Nirankari. Saifabad Traffic police are available and regulating traffic. Commuters are requested to take alternate route,” one update read.
It was at 4.30 p.m. police linked the traffic gridlock to rush at fuel stations: “Due to heavy rush in petrol bunks and heavy flow of traffic, movement of vehicles is slow from Bazarghat, Ek Minar, Nampally, opp. Gandhi Bavan, Gruhakalpa, Care Hospital, MJ Market. Goshamahal Traffic police are available and regulating traffic,” said another update.
“I had to take a 8-kilometre detour to reach Film Nagar area. The road under the Shaikpet flyover was blocked all the way to Tolichowki. I took the flyover and had to take a U turn near Raidurgam to reach Film Nagar,” said Sibghat Khan, who drove from from Qadeer Bagh for 1.5 hours to reach his destination.
“It took me two hours on my scooter from HiTec to Marredpally. It was my mistake that I didn’t take the Blue Line metro,” posted Madhu Lambu.
Another motorist rued spending 2 hours for commuting from JNTU to Balanagar.
