8,000+ potholes on Hyderabad’s roads driving motorists up the wall

Hyderabad: Light to moderate rains over the last month have laid bare the substandard condition of roads in the city, with several stretches developing potholes that are adding to the woes of motorists.

While the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) maintains a vast road network of 9,000 km, which includes 2,846 km of blacktop roads and 6,167 km of cement concrete roads, it identified more than 8,000 potholes, averaging almost one pothole per km. The LB Nagar zone, connecting Hyderabad with Vijayawada, alone accounts for 25% of all potholes in the city.

Although the civic body initiated repairs of potholes as part of a road safety drive, the poor quality during maintenance work becomes evident every year as these restorations deteriorate rapidly in the event of heavy to very heavy rainfall. The situation is particularly severe in high-traffic areas like old Hafeezpet, Amberpet, and Ayyappa Society, where water-filled potholes, along with accumulated mud and stones, create significant obstacles for vehicles.

The problem extends beyond main thoroughfares, affecting internal roads across various neighbourhoods, including Nallagandla, Chandanagar, Langar Houz, Uppal, Narayanaguda, Mallepally, Nagole, Malakpet, Red Hills, and several areas in Old City, which have several damaged roads. The combination of potholes and waterlogging has created challenging conditions for road users.

Citizens have turned to X to report pothole-related issues to GHMC, particularly in areas such as JNTUH, Kondapur, Bachupally, and Cherlapally. “While GHMC acknowledges these tweets, which are tagged in our handle ‘Team Road Squad’, they fail to provide specific completion schedules or share the results. Additionally, many citizens have raised concerns about their complaints being marked as resolved on the MyGHMC application without actual remediation of the reported problems," said T Harsha, who runs Team Road Squad on X.

Engineering experts criticise municipal authorities for their inadequate approach to pothole repairs across the city. The inconsistent understanding of material density between repaired sections and existing road surfaces leads to a cycle where fixing one pothole often results in the formation of new ones along the edges.

“The current practice involves municipal workers addressing potholes by merely treating small four-feet sections with basic patchwork to level the surface. However, proper road rehabilitation requires cutting, restructuring, and repairing stretches of 50 to 100 metres, based on the road's density, followed by a thorough assessment of surface roughness and necessary subway adjustments. Potholes need different repair techniques based on the extent of deterioration and the type of pavement material used in construction,” said KM Lakshmana Rao, retired civil engineer, JNTUH.

On the other hand, GHMC commissioner RV Karnan issued instructions to the engineering wing to fix potholes within a week. “We have undertaken comprehensive road maintenance, which includes repairing catch pits and central medians, alongside pothole filling. Within a week's timeframe, we will address road repairs in 7,500 identified problematic locations. Our teams already resolved issues with 1,700 potholes and fixed 28 catch pits across the city in the past two days. This special drive aims to ensure hassle-free movement for motorists on city roads,” said Sahadev Ratnakar, chief engineer (maintenance), GHMC.