Cant resist fatal attraction

HYDERABAD: It has been around three months since the Nehru Outer Ring Road shot into infamy as a death trap for two-wheelers, after the death of former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin’s son who took his bike out for a spin here. Akin to an expressway, motorists here are on a race against time to either reach the airport or head off into neighbouring districts. And the unassuming biker, who follows the trail, knows not the dangers of riding on an expressway. “It’s true that bikers enter the ORR. But the entire stretch is 80-km long and there are over 40 entry and exit points. Since the police workforce does not possess that kind of resources to man every point, two-wheelers continue to ply here,” explains DCP (Traffic) S Chandrasekhar Reddy of the Cyberabad traffic Police. The police have set up a checkpost at the entrance to the ORR near the Gachibowli-ORR circle and according to Chandrasekhar, “close to 80-100 cases are booked daily against two-wheelers entering the roads.”He admitted that while the police could only do so much, it was up to the public to be aware of the danger posed to them by the high speed traffic prevalent on the ORR. Sahil, a techie near Indira Nagar, Gachibowli agreed with the need to create more awareness saying, “I own a Pulsar 220, but never has it even crossed my mind to hit the ORR and clock speeds greater than 100 kmph. I know the roads there are built for that kind of speed, but so many large vehicles will compete for space with me, which in the end could turn out to be fatal. But many bikers who enter the ORR do not care about the risk.”The sad part, though, is that more than the high power bikes, it’s the mopeds, and 100cc bikes that claim right of way on ORR. “There must be a reason why people on such bikes ride through the ORR. It can’t be just for speed. Maybe they have some shortcut to their home through the side of the roads. Who knows? Anyways they are ready to take the risk,” says Sahil.With the Cyberabad Traffic Police making helmet travel mandatory, it remains to be seen if they can enforce the two-wheeler ban through the ORR more strictly.