Statues interrupting traffic to be busted

The traffic police who have of late been on an overdrive to streamline the unruly traffic situation in the city seem intent on clearing yet another hurdle to the free flow of traffic - statues of various leaders that stand right in the middle of almost all big and small junctions in the city. And to start with, they have chosen to target the yet-to-be unveiled statue of the late Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy at the busy Punjagutta crossroads.The wisdom and practicability of the choice aside, the police appear to want to make a determined beginning to prevent the city traffic from becoming a casualty to the proliferation of statues. It seems they believe in prevention is better than cure.Sources told Expresso that the traffic police officials will seek permission in writing from higher-ups to remove the statues which hinder the free flow of traffic.The 10-foot statue of Rajasekhara Reddy has been installed at Punjagutta reportedly by a fans’ association without the permission of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and traffic police.Officials say there are hundreds of such statues all over the city.Contacted by Expresso, Punjagutta assistant commissioner of police (Traffic) KM Madhu said he did not know whether permission was given to instal the statue of YSR.“No one from the Congress party or YSR fans approached us for permission to instal it at Punjagutta. It’s been erected at the junction recently and is ready for unveiling,” he said.Quite wary of the possible political backlash, other senior officials too remained tight-lipped on the legality of the statue and the growing opposition among their ranks to its installation at that place.The traffic police, in fact, stopped permitting statues on the roads for one year. It is mandatory to obtain proper permission and No Objection Certificate (NOC) from traffic police to instal any kind of statue or construct temples.Confirming the tough stance of the traffic police towards statue installations, T Subash Goud, son of former minister T Bala Goud, said he was being denied permission to instal his father’s statue at Himayatnagar or Indira Park. “I obtained permission from Chief Minister K Rosaiah and police commissioner AK Khan three months ago to erect a statue of my father but the traffic police are not giving the green signal citing traffic problems,” he said.Of the estimated 500 statues installed at various corners in the twin cities, at least 60 are said to be of former Khairatabad MLA P Janardhan Reddy and almost all of them were unveiled without obtaining permission from the GHMC and traffic police.
Removing roadblocksA whopping 500 statues, most of them unauthorised, play havoc with traffic 

Over 10 percent of them, around 60, are said to be of former MLA P Janardhan Reddy and few of them are permitted either by the GHMC or the traffic police 

A YSR statue ready for unveiling at Punjagutta crossroads has been installed by fans associations but no permission seems to have been sought 

Traffic police decide to take written permission from higher-ups to remove illegal statues    

By Mouli Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com