Built for speed, not safety: 961 accidents expose design flaws on NH-65 corridor

Hyderabad: The widening of National Highway-65 into a 12-lane, high-speed corridor was envisioned as a transformative boost to Hyderabad's eastern growth belt.Instead, the stretch between Chintalkunta and Pedda Amberpet has come to symbolise a deeper planning failure — a road engineered for speed but embedded within dense urban life, where thousands cross it daily to access homes, schools, workplaces and markets.
Accident data for 2025 reveals the scale of the disconnect. Along the 12-km NH-65 corridor passing through Abdullapurmet, Hayathnagar, LB Nagar and Vanastalipuram, a total of 961 accidents were recorded, leaving 816 people injured and 134 dead. Despite its expressway-like design, the highway functions as a routine pedestrian crossing for communities living on either side. Absence of crossing pointsHayathnagar stands out not only for reporting the highest number of accidents (304) and injuries (260), but also for the profile of victims. Seventy-two pedestrians were injured or killed here — the highest across the corridor — while only two drunk driving cases were registered during the year. The disparity challenges the common perception that reckless driving alone is to blame, pointing instead to the absence of safe crossing options. Vanastalipuram recorded 251 accidents, 207 injuries and 65 pedestrian victims. Abdullapurmet, though reporting fewer pedestrian cases, saw the highest death toll with 49 fatalities. LB Nagar registered 37 pedestrian casualties. Across all four police limits, drunk-driving cases remained in single digits, indicating that enforcement measures cannot compensate for structural shortcomings. Urban planners say that NH-65 exemplifies a highway designed for uninterrupted flow but cutting through populated zones where essential services sit directly opposite one another. Safe crossings are sparse, distant or incomplete, forcing residents to rely on risky informal crossing points that have become routine. Hazardous stretchesResidents say the highway has effectively divided neighbourhoods. What was once a short walk now requires long detours or hazardous dashes across multiple fast-moving lanes. With vehicles travelling at near-expressway speeds, even small errors can be fatal. As Hyderabad continues to expand eastward, NH-65 has become more than a transport corridor — it is a measure of whether infrastructure growth can coexist with basic safety. Current trends suggest that without urgent design corrections, the pursuit of speed will continue to exact a heavy human cost.