Telangana: Officials draw flak for reducing width of traffic island in Mancherial

The island was renovated as part of beautification of important junctions in the town, spending Rs 1.40 crore in 2024

Mancherial: Officials of the municipality drew flak for reducing the width of an traffic island at IB Chowk here on Monday.

The island was renovated as part of beautification of important junctions in the town, spending Rs 1.40 crore in 2024. It was one of the four islands developed by the municipality. However, officials of the civic body trimmed the width using an earthmover citing that it was contributing to road accidents.

Cadres of BRS led by former Mancherial MLA N Diwakar Rao staged a sit-in at the island opposing the demolition of the island. Rao found fault with the officials for wasting public money by bulldozing developmental works. He termed cancellation of a high-level bridge across Godavari River between Anthragaon and Mancherial was also an unfair decision.

A mild tension prevailed for a while when police tried to shift the agitators to a police station. The agitators picked an argument with the policemen for preventing them from staging the protest. However, the police managed to stop the protest citing traffic snarls. Locals too expressed displeasure over wastage of public money.

Sources said that the officials took up the trimming of the islands as part of conversion of a stretch from IB chowk to Kurmapalli into a six-lane road.