Amit Shah’s visit triggers traffic snarls across Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Severe traffic jams disrupted normal life in several parts of Hyderabad from afternoon till evening on Monday following the visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to the Bhagya Laxmi temple near Charminar and his subsequent participation in a Maha Padayatra in support of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The movement of the Union Home Minister and the arrangements made for the programme affected traffic in the Old City and several central parts of Hyderabad.

Commuters faced considerable inconvenience as traffic police imposed diversions and restricted vehicular movement at several vital junctions to facilitate the Union Minister’s visit and the padayatra.

The congestion was particularly severe in and around Charminar, Pathergatti and Osmangunj. The impact was also felt at MJ Market, Koti, Putlibowli, Nampally and Basheerbagh, where traffic moved slowly, resulting in long queues of vehicles.

Motorists travelling towards the city centre and the Old City had to take alternative routes, while office-goers, traders and other commuters were caught in the congestion. The traffic restrictions and diversions continued for several hours, with normal traffic movement taking time to resume even after the programmes concluded.

Traffic police personnel were deployed at key junctions to regulate vehicular movement and guide commuters through alternative routes. However, the large-scale movement of vehicles and security arrangements for the high-profile visit added to the traffic pressure across the affected stretches.

The prolonged traffic jams caused hardship to commuters, particularly those travelling through the busy commercial areas of the city.