A Deccan Chronicle photo
If you build, they will come - and fill it up in no time! The new flyover built for solving the traffic problem is filled up as soon as it was opened for traffic! The city is trying to catch up with increased traffic by widening the streets and by building such flyovers, but with the number of new two-wheelers and new cars coming onto the streets every day you sit in traffic jams for 1-2 hours. And even if you don't sit without moving, it is common to spend 30-45 minutes to travel 6-8 km. This picture is from the popular local newspaper Deccan Chronicle.
In spite of emission tests, vehicles (especially buses) emit a lot of smoke. It is just horrible to travel on two-wheelers and in auto rickshaws as the smoke from the exhaust hits you right in the face, especially when the traffic is moving very slowly. Things are really bad for the traffic policemen who man the street crossings. They are exposed to vehicle exhaust and blaring horns. Recently, I read a news item that said the traffic cops will be provided oxygen but they have to go into police stations to get their dose. There was talk of banning air horns but it hasn't happened yet. Even if they ban, it would be one of those laws that cannot be implemented, and there are quite a few of those. In cities like Pune, women who ride two-wheelers cover their head and face with a large scarf and they wear long gloves that cover their arms to protect themselves from the exhaust and dust, but for some reason the girls here don't do so.
"Modern technology
Owes ecology
An apology" -Alan Eddison
21 comments:
Incredible photo! The pollution must be worse than Mexico City. I don't think that I would enjoy wrestling with the traffic there. How many people use bicycles instead of cars or scooters?
Oh my goodness! That is terrible!
So much traffic! You better walk!!
@kate - Hardly anyone uses bicycles anymore, except the courier boys who deliver bills and documents. (The credit card and mobile phone bills, among other things such as stock broker statements are delivered by courier here.) Also it is not safe to be riding bikes. For that matter it is not safe to be riding scooters. In the past whenever I saw pics of China, invariably I saw bicycles but I don't see them anymore there either.
Yikes!
Wow, what an eye-opener! Looks awful, but great picture
That's a lot of vehicles!
Doesn't look like any of these cars are going to "fly over" on this fly over. You have a very interesting city - thank you for sharing it with us. I also appreciate your quotes - you pick some good ones.
Wow, that was some traffic you got there in your city.
Wow I can't even imagine why anyone would want to get in a car and try to get somewhere!
My goodness, I'll never complain again!
I love your photographs and the very apt quotations you use each day.
That's the reality which we need to accept.
@kate-Bicycles?We don't see them any more.Only the postmen who deliver snail mails are using them.
@rambling round-Worst Nightmare
@xntricpundits - yes, it is the reality, but it should be prevented from getting worse. The 1-Lac ($2500) TATA car that is going to hit the roads in 2008/2009 is going to make matters worse because many existing 2-wheeler owners would upgrade to a car (as they are doing already) and even some first time buyers would go directly for a car rather than a 2-wheeler. A better solution would be to develop sensible public transportation and to heavily tax vehicle usage! But in a world of vote-bank politics it is not always the sensible things that get done.
Please excuse my language when I say... "HOLY CRAP!" I will remember this the next time I am stuck in traffic here, and I will realize that it is not so bad after all.
Wow! That's what I call bumper to bumper. How do people manage to get home?
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Oh my! I really did not know before if there's a terrible traffic in India (Turkish: Hindistan)! I'm afraid we should praise for our traffic flow in Istanbul, because ours is not so bad like yours. At least today. May I ask if you live near to this street? Or perhaps you travel daily on this street -ie work to home...? Do you know the latest population for this area of the picture? (Pune?)
what an AMAZING POST! wow. it really shows how it gets filled up! i guess i shouldn't even consider driving in hyderabad!
@nihal - To answer your questions
May I ask if you live near to this street?
- No. I don't live near here.
Or perhaps you travel daily on this street -ie work to home...?
- I don't travel on this street daily. I have yet to travel on that flyover, but the streets (below the flyover) which are supposed to be helped by the flyover is always crowded and I have traveled on it.
Do you know the latest population for this area of the picture? (Pune?)
- According to Wikipedia the 2006 population for Hyderabad is 5.3 million, but I think it is probably 6-7 million from what I read elsewhere. Recently, the surrounding municipalities have been included in Hyderabad so the population has gone up to 8.3 (wikipedia number) but I have read 10 million elsewhere. The population of Pune (a city near Bombay) was 4.5 million in 2005 according to Wikipedia.
Thanks a lot for your kind reply back on my questions:)
Oh wow, amazing photo--it's quite daunting I am sure but I suppose people adapt don't they, if it takes 2 hours to get from one place to another, then everyone factors that in when they leave for work or school...(I saw this in other parts of Asia, too...)
Oh my goodness, gracious me! I've been stuck in traffic jams in Bombay, but to look at at from this view is scary. Superb pic.
As usual your photos and commentaries are great!
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