Gowlidoddi road potholes, bottlenecks put 30,000 Hyderabad residents at risk
HYDERABAD: The road through Gowlidoddi village, between the Financial District and Gopanpally, is now one of the most dangerous and congested in western Hyderabad. Botched repair work has left deep potholes. There are no footpaths or a central median. A single-lane bottleneck slows traffic every day. About 30,000 residents, along with thousands of office workers, schoolchildren, pedestrians, and delivery riders, depend on this chaotic stretch.
Speaking to HyderabadMail, Social activist Balakrishna Devarakonda, who has been tracking the situation closely, says accidents on the stretch are no longer exceptional, they are routine. “Delivery workers from Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, and Blinkit keep falling here. About five or six accidents happen each week. These workers earn modest wages and risk injury because the road remains broken,” Balakrishna says. It is pertinent to note that two months ago, a student died near the Shivalayam temple on this road. Media reported the tragedy at the time.
According to Balakrishna, poor decisions and lack of follow-through created these problems. The blacktop road, laid around 2023, stayed in good shape until mid-2024. The situation worsened in 2025. Workers dug up the entire stretch for underground electrical cabling, using heavy machinery. They left the surface uneven, with a height difference of almost half a foot from the rest of the road.
@ZC_SLP @MC_Cyberabad @GandhiArekapudi
Huge number of pathholes in gowlidoddy village main road causing heavy traffic congestions all around the clock…. Plz take necessary action pic.twitter.com/m4T6VLvcJI
— Balakrishna DEVARAKONDA (@d_balakrishna) June 29, 2026
Making matters worse, traffic was never stopped during the repair. There were no diversions, barricades, or night-time or weekend scheduling to minimise disruption. Vehicles continued to pass over freshly laid concrete while it was still wet, leaving depressions and uneven patches that have since deepened into dangerous potholes. “They should have worked at night or on weekends. Instead, they poured cement on weekdays while traffic rolled over it. That’s how the potholes formed,” says Balakrishna.
Adding to the chaos, four or five quick-commerce stores operate here. As a result, two-wheeler delivery riders crowd this road at all hours. The potholes make their work especially risky.
Beyond the potholes, Gowlidoddi village represents a structural problem that has been known for years. The road here narrows into what is effectively a single-lane passage, a bottleneck connecting the Financial District to Gopanpally and Tellapur that funnels enormous volumes of traffic through a narrow stretch with no permanent solution.
The road is technically four lanes wide, but without a central median, traffic from both directions shares the same surface. Every morning, two or three traffic constables set up temporary barricades to navigate the heavy traffic. They assign three lanes toward the Financial District and one in the opposite direction. Each afternoon, starting around 3 PM, they reverse this setup for the evening rush. Rain or shine, constables manually manage traffic for hours.
Despite their efforts, conditions remain tough. “No matter the weather, even in heavy rain, they adjust the lanes twice a day. This is hard for the constables and just as hard for commuters and pedestrians,” Balakrishna says.
Meanwhile, pedestrians face their own challenges. There are no footpaths, but pedestrian traffic is heavy. The area has several schools and colleges, hostels, and many residential complexes. Every Monday, a Shiva temple draws large crowds. In the evenings, residents fill the street to shop for essentials. “The local population is around 30,000 people. All of them depend on this road,” says Balakrishna.
Authorities know about the problem. A year ago, they proposed building a flyover to ease the Gowlidoddi bottleneck. Local shopkeepers and property owners opposed it, fearing it would drive away business. They suggested widening the road instead. Officials marked out the expansion, but never started work. The road is unchanged.
Balakrishna recently called and messaged Cyberabad Municipal Corporation(CMC) officials about the potholes. They acknowledged his complaint and promised to look into it. He plans to submit a formal complaint soon if nothing changes. He demands a foot over bridge for pedestrians and proper road for commuters.
