For more than 1.5 lakh commuters using the NH-44 corridor every day, the stalled and staggered construction of the Paradise-to-Dairy Farm (Suchitra) Elevated Corridor has turned what should be a key arterial route into a daily ordeal.

Half-finished flyover pillars rising from the middle of the highway, dug-up service roads, uneven carriageways, dust-filled diversions and bottlenecks have become defining features of the stretch. Long-distance travellers, office-goers and local residents say navigating the corridor has become increasingly frustrating as project delays continue to mount.

The situation has worsened near the automobile showrooms at Bowenpally, where construction of the Paradise-to-Bowenpally flyover has entered its final phase. With portions of the carriageway occupied by ongoing work and traffic squeezed into narrower lanes, peak-hour congestion has intensified.

Authorities have created an additional lane on the service road and installed signages to guide motorists through diversions. Yet, commuters say the measures have done little to ease the daily struggle.

Meanwhile, work on the Suchitra-Kompally flyover has remained stalled for more than a year, leaving a crucial section of the project unfinished and adding further pressure on the corridor.

Residents describe the stretch as a ‘massive unfinished mess’.

“I stay close to Dairy Farm road and drive to Banjara Hills for work every day. There are only two practical routes — through Paradise or Fatehnagar — and both are heavily congested. I understand delays are inevitable when infrastructure projects are under way, but the potholes, damaged roads and diversions make this stretch a nightmare to navigate,” said Gwyneth Felicia, 34, an operations manager who uses the corridor daily.

Traffic police say several interventions have been introduced to reduce congestion. A U-turn was opened between pillar numbers 35 and 36 to ease movement from Bowenpally towards Suchitra after frequent bottlenecks were reported near Suchitra junction. Another U-turn between pillars 21 and 22 was later introduced for Alwal-bound commuters following complaints that the earlier turning point was too far away.

Despite these measures, a major choke point remains between pillar numbers 28 and 29 and pillar 16 on the Bowenpally to Alwal stretch, where the road narrows due to a culvert. Officials said even a brief disruption of 30 to 45 seconds during peak traffic is enough to trigger long queues.

The project has faced repeated delays since work began in July 2022. Although the latest completion target is June 2026, substantial portions of the corridor remain unfinished.

The stretch also presents coordination challenges. While the Paradise-to-Bowenpally section falls under the Malkajgiri traffic police, the corridor from Suchitra junction onwards comes under the Cyberabad commissionerate.

To manage traffic, additional personnel are deployed at diversion points daily between 6 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. by the Alwal traffic police, while officials from the National Highways Authority of India and project agencies monitor construction activity to prevent disruptions from spilling onto active carriageways.

Cyberabad Traffic DCP-2 S. Sheshadrini Reddy said work on the Suchitra-Kompally stretch has remained suspended after contractors approached the court over financial and contractual disputes. “Traffic has been a key issue on this stretch. We have been deploying additional personnel and taking ad hoc measures such as barricading and signage. We have also identified black spots and recently reviewed them to improve safety,” the officer said.

The prolonged construction has also raised safety concerns. Official data show that seven black spots identified along the NH-44 flyover corridor recorded 50 accidents and 53 fatalities between 2022 and 2025. During recent inspections of accident-prone locations across Cyberabad, unfinished roadworks and prolonged infrastructure projects emerged as a recurring factor behind crashes.

As construction drags on, the corridor continues to function as a major choke point, forcing thousands of vehicles onto adjacent colonies and internal roads that were never designed to handle such traffic volumes, leaving commuters to bear the cost of a project still far from completion.