Since a four-hour-long traffic jam on June 21 following a spell of heavy rain in the IT corridor in Cyberabad area of Hyderabad, the Cyberabad Traffic Police has started issuing advisories to office-goers, primarily in the IT field, to either leave work an hour before peak traffic or leave later if rain is anticipated. In a first, it would also issue updates if rain is expected during peak hours. DCP, Cyberabad Traffic Police, S M Vijay Kumar speaks to The Indian Express about the issue. Have you had success with these traffic advisories? If it rains during peak traffic hours, especially in the evening, a combination of factors creates huge jams, including waterlogging, road damage and bottlenecks. People get frustrated and vent out their ire on traffic police and municipal authorities. The jams can be avoided if fewer vehicles are on roads. A majority of the people in the IT sector follow our advisories. They are in touch with their security officers and also follow the Cyberabad Traffic Police on social media. How about people not on social media? We also issue advisories over all the FM radio channels. There is no other way to inform everybody. What is the Cyberabad Traffic Police doing to ease these jams and congestion? We are working in coordination with municipal authorities to repair potholes and to deploy water pumps to clear waterlogged areas. We also issue maps showing alternative routes so as to avoid waterlogged areas. How many bottlenecks and water-logging points have you identified in the Hi-Tech area and IT corridor? There are 30 places which see traffic jams, mostly due to waterlogging or bad patches of roads. About 150 traffic cops are there during peak hours. What happened on June 21? There was a brief spell of heavy rain in the evening. All traffic policemen as well as many police officials handling law and order were summoned to help regulate the traffic in Hi-Tech and Gachibowli areas. Senior police officers stuck in the jam also got down from their vehicles to help manage the jam. But it was difficult because all the roads were choked. Finally some two-lane roads were made single-lane and incoming traffic was diverted to clear the jam.
