Driving on Hyderabad roads a nightmare
If someone wants to witness the enforcement of traffic laws, then Hyderabad is definitely not the right place.
Be it driving a car or riding a motorbike or even walking on the roads - often bereft of pavements - is nothing short of an arduous task.
Most of the roads are already in a bad shape, while wrong parking and a lack of adherence to the rules are commonplace in the city of over 2.5 million people.
Hyderabad has only one authorised bus stand known as Badin bus stop.
The other authorised stand, named Baldia bus stop, was closed in 2014 because of its proximity to the central jail.
Nevertheless, dozens of illegal stops are operating with impunity, with most of them using public roads for parking vehicles.
Some transporters had managed to acquire permits for pick-and-drop points and small-scale stands.
But all of these permits were cancelled and authorised stops were made non-functional.
The efforts of administrators and the court have failed to stop this practice.
In December 2020, the Sindh High Court (SHC) Hyderabad circuit bench ordered the district administration and the police to close all the illegal transport stands operating in the city, Latifabad and Qasimabad talukas of Hyderabad The court directed the authorities to shift those stands on a temporary basis on the stretch of the National Highway near Isra University, in Hatri area, on the outskirts of the city.
Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner Fuad Ghaffar Soomro, who heads the traffic management board and is also the chairman of the District Regional Transport Authority, has written to concerned police officers, including the senior superintendent of police of Hyderabad, to implement the SHC’s order to no avail.
“All types of inter-city transport stands and pick-and-drop permissions have been cancelled with immediate effect,” the DC wrote in an order on January 13.
“...all law-enforcement agencies in Hyderabad are asked to take punitive action for removal of intercity stands of buses, minibusses, taxis and cars, established in Qasimabad and Latifabad.” The DC has also disallowed the temporary stopping of public transport on the roads for picking up or dropping off passengers.
He sought compliance reports mainly from the district and the traffic police.
However, like his previous orders, the January 13 directives also fell on deaf ears with the transport stands operating as before.
In a more specific letter, addressed to Hyderabad SSP Amjad Shaikh and the SP traffic, the DC pointed out that the bus stand in Latifabad Unit No 7 was not only obstructing the traffic flow, but also creating a law and order situation due to fight among transporters.
“This office has already cancelled all the permissions of pick and drop,” he added.
When asked to comment, the DC said implementation of the order was the responsibility of the police.
“They [police] have to ensure that no illegal addas [stands] operate in their jurisdiction.” Regional Transport Authority (RTA) Secretary Saleem Memon, while talking to The Express Tribune, said that the transport authority could either issue a permit or cancel it.
“We don’t have our own force to take action against the illegal or cancelled addas.” Parks under threat According to the RTA secretary, the stand-in Latifabad Unit 7, which is used by multiple transporters, has been the biggest headache for the authorities.
One can find taxis, vans and even buses parked on the roads to pick and drop the passengers.
One side of the road is occupied by car showrooms and the other by public transport.
Interestingly, the office of traffic police Latifabad section is located at a distance of around 100 metres.
Transport department officials say influential individuals are operating those stands in connivance with the police.
“Now the option of occupying Shaheede- Millat park is being floated to shift these addas,” a transport official disclosed, requesting anonymity.
The park is located on Autobahn Road, stretching from Hussainabad intersection to Fateh intersection.
The illegal stand in Latifabad Unit 7 is hardly at less than a hundred metres distance from the park, which is the property of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
SSP Shaikh did not respond to calls and to the query conveyed to him through a text message.
The troublesome stands also exist in other parts of the district.
One of them is at the Wadhu Wah Road gate which connects to the Hyderabad bypass road.
Besides the existence of unlawful taxi stands, vans and buses also stop to pick and drop off passengers, causing blockades of traffic.