A green mesh net put up as a canopy on all four sides of a traffic junction in Kurnool to save commuters from the scorching heat.
A well intended move by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) proved to be ill-thought-out, and had to be stopped before it could be implemented across the city.
Green mesh canopy shades were installed by GHMC in collaboration with the Traffic Police at select traffic junctions to protect the commuters waiting at the signal from the harsh sun during summer. The shade nets were provided at Liberty junction, City Light junction, Shapur Nagar and Yapral junctions initially, during the third week of May.
The shades covered the entire width of the road, and about 10 car lengths so that they provided protection to as many two wheeler riders as possible. Also given was five metres of clearance from the ground, so that heavy vehicles could have passage.
The initiative was taken reportedly upon instructions from the GHMC Commissioner D. Ronald Rose who had borrowed the idea from Puducherry Public Works department. Tenders were called at zonal level for installation of the same.
However, the authorities realised their folly days after the shade nets were installed. The pre-monsoon thunderstorms accompanied by strong gusts of wind in the last week of May ripped apart one of the shade nets installed at Liberty Junction. The squalls which uprooted many trees in the city, thankfully spared the makeshift poles which, if uprooted, could have caused major damage.
The shade has since been removed by the authorities, who have also halted their plan to extend the shades to major junctions in all 30 circles.
“The shades still exist at a few junctions where the cityscape does not allow the storm to rip them apart,” shared an official, while admitting that the measure had come too late in summer. Attributing the delay in elections, he hoped to plan ahead for next summer.
Incidentally, Chennai Corporation had followed Puducherry’s example and reportedly installed the nets at eight junctions of the city.
Hyderabad typically experiences pre monsoon showers during the third and fourth weeks of May when high speed winds wreak havoc on the city uprooting trees and electrical poles. There were instances in the past when hoardings collapsed due to wind resulting in power outages and damaged cars.
