Residents demand permanent repair of RR5 Road near Gulshan Colony, Qutub Shahi Tombs
HYDERABAD: A busy arterial stretch on Radial Road No. 5 (RR5), running through Gulshan Colony near the Qutub Shahi Tombs area, connecting Shaikpet and Tolichowki to Narsingi, has deteriorated into a dangerous patchwork of craters, waterlogged potholes, and a submerged manhole, posing daily accident risks to thousands of commuters and drawing sharp criticism from residents who say repeated complaints have produced only short-lived bitumen patches that wash away with the first spell of rain.
The condition of the road near Gulshan Colony in the Qutub Shahi Tombs area, show large water-filled potholes stretching across the road surface. Wajahad Khan, a practicing advocate and resident of Shaikpet who commutes regularly on this road, spoke to HyderabadMail about the situation. According to Khan, the road was last properly resurfaced over ten years ago. Almost every monsoon, new potholes appear. GHMC sends teams to apply quick bitumen patches, but these fixes fail in weeks or even days after heavy rain. As a result, the road quickly returns to its damaged state.
Explaining the issue, Khan said, “They do attend to the complaints, but they are not laying the road. They are not even addressing the patchworks properly. In just two weeks, it gets back to the same state. Clearly, it is a recurring issue.”
According to Khan, the permanent fix is the only real solution, cut the existing road surface properly, remove the debris, clean the base, and lay a fresh concrete or bitumen carpet layer. Instead, what residents get is a cycle of cheap patches and fresh complaints.
The condition of RR5 is especially dangerous because of the road’s layout. Notably, the damaged stretch includes a blind curve, so drivers cannot see oncoming traffic until the last moment. When potholes appear on a blind curve, unfamiliar commuters and visitors to the city brake suddenly upon seeing the road damage, without warning those behind them. The result, Khan has witnessed repeatedly, is rear-end collisions, two-wheelers falling, and injured commuters.
“People who are not well acquainted with the road’s physical condition put on sudden brakes and people behind them dash into them. It is also becoming a law and order situation. People are falling, they are getting injured,” said Khan.
Overflowing manhole worsen road condition
In addition, RR5 is a major connector, not just for Shaikpet and Tolichowki, but also for commuters from Jubilee Hills and Filmnagar heading toward Narsingi. Traffic remains heavy all day. To make matters worse, a manhole on the road managed by HMWSSB often overflows, sending water and sewage into the already damaged surface. This quickly destroys any patchwork and makes temporary fixes even less effective.
“Even if GHMC does patchwork, the manhole overflow ruins it right away. This is a cheap response to a problem that needs a permanent solution,” Khan said.
Khan says he has filed complaints in the past and raised the issue on social media. While GHMC has conducted patchwork on the road in response to previous complaints, the current deterioration, however, has not been attended to yet.
He urges GHMC to restore this stretch of RR5 with a scientific, permanent repair. Workers should excavate the damaged surface, fix the base, and coordinate with HMWSSB to solve the manhole problem. Khan wants a durable concrete road instead of endless bitumen patches that fail every monsoon.
