HYDERABAD: The Telangana state government’s move to begin the demolition of the 132-year-old secretariat building from early hours of Tuesday has thrown vehicular traffic and normal life out of gear in some parts of the city. Even as the state administration went ahead with the demolition task from early in the morning, the first impact of it was felt by the ordinary commuter in the form of sudden traffic curbs. The state government reportedly plans to complete the entire demolition work by Tuesday evening.

Since early morning, all roads leading to the old secretariat area were completely sealed off with heavy posse of policemen deployed at every thoroughfare. Effectively, all the busy arteries around Tank Bund have been completely cordoned off. Besides placing heavy iron road blocks across roads, the police also used barbed-wire fencing as part of their precautionary measures. While the police officials are tightlipped on the sudden road blockading and the many traffic diversions, the state government is said to have taken this measure as a precautionary step to pre-empt any untoward incidents including possible agitations that can hamper the demolition work.

However, the ordinary city commuter was as usual the worst-hit by these sudden traffic curbs. Office-goers and people passing through Indira Park road, Tank Bund road, Telugu Talli Flyover, Khairathabad Flyover, Himayatnagar-Liberty road, Mint Compound Road, Minister’s Road received the rude shock as they have been turned back by the police on these thoroughfares. While most of them were forced to take detours, some others were seen retreating to their homes unable to deal with the heavy traffic congestions at every place.

Traffic snarls were witnessed on all the main roads connecting the Tank Bund besides Basheerbagh Cross Roads, Lakdi-Ka-Pool and the Paradise road. Even as many reported late at their work places, it took anywhere between 1-2 hours for the office-goers to reach their destinations after having been stuck in traffic jams for longer periods. Going through this nightmare, many were seen fuming at the city police as they were clearly caught unawares by the sudden traffic restrictions that were put in place.