Deserted Hyderabad roads greet citizens

Hyderabad: For Rajeev Dixit the commute from Madhapur to Tarnaka which is usually a harrowing one-and-a-half hour drive took just 30 minutes on Friday.

Delighted to reach home early the software professional wished it was the same all round the year. Thanks to the festival of Sankranti the city wore a deserted look adding a sense of relief to people.

Many IT employees, junior scientists from numerous high-end research and development centres, government and private sector employees left the city on Thursday to their hometowns in Andhra Pradesh.

While a majority of families especially from Kukatpally, Dilsukhnagar, AS Rao Nagar and other areas left to their native towns in Andhra Pradesh, many remained indoors.

The usually busy roads such as Punjagutta, Paradise, Masab Tank, Jubilee Hills-check post, Abids and Kukatpally witnessed no heavy rush.

Several eateries and small-time vendors remained conspicuous by their absence. Travel time cut down by more than 30 to 50 minutes for most people.

Sridhar, a resident of Masab Tank said, “It reminded me of Hyderabad about 15 years back when there were few vehicles on roads and one could go from one place to another at a leisurely pace.”