Hyderabad: A group of urban planners, transport professionals and citizens has launched a petition urging the Telangana govt to rethink its dependence on flyovers and road-widening projects and instead adopt measures aimed at improving public transport and reducing congestion. They claim several measures to ease city’s traffic woes can be implemented within six months.
A 4-km commute from Maredpally to Begumpet used to take me 45 minutes when I was working from the office. This was one of the reasons I chose to work from home,” said Ambica Srimal (48), a resident of Banjara Hills. The petition had received a little over 270 sign-ups as of Oct 9, a day after its release, according to the group.
Because i was associated with Warrior Moms, which advocated for clean air, and vehicle emissions are a major contributor to air pollution, natasha Ranarathnam (55), a development consultant from Somajiguda and one of the campaign’s founding members, said: “The campaign caught my attention.
“Every piece of infrastructure that you put in is going to limit prospects of improving public transport,” said transport policy specialist Prashant Bachu. He argued that flyovers could make it more difficult and expensive to introduce public transport systems in the future. “Traffic has become so painful that I avoid going out altogether. Organisers plan to print the petition and submit it to the Telangana Governor, the chief minister and senior officials from the municipal administration and other departments, seeking discussions on implementing the proposed measures.