For the first time in India, the city of Hyderabad is hosting the prestigious Formula-E race and the city is all decked up to make the global event a grand success. But of late, there has been an uproar on social media regarding the traffic restrictions placed around the Hussain Sagar area where the race is scheduled.
Unlike the Formula One race, the Formula-E race is usually held in street circuits in the heart of the city. Worldwide, the E-Prix is a street race, and even in Hyderabad, a street circuit was designed around Hussain Sagar. This is the only reason the race is scheduled in the middle of the city and not in the outskirts.
To prepare the public for the race, the government and the traffic police have issued a traffic advisory in advance and suggested alternate routes for two days. The advisory was sent to all media houses for wide coverage and also circulated on social media. Probably, the communication hasn’t reached the last mile and the public have hit the roads around the street circuit. This caused a minor inconvenience.
However, the bigger picture behind hosting the global race in Hyderabad is to make Telangana a torchbearer in the EV sector. The main motto of the Formula-E race is to promote EV adoption and sustainable mobility.
Also, the race is held during the Hyderabad E-mobility week which started on February 5. During the same week, the state has launched ‘Telangana Mobility Valley’, India’s first new mobility focussed cluster, to further accelerate the growth of sustainable mobility in India.
Telangana has also developed four mega EV clusters to promote manufacturing, innovation, and R&D in the e-mobility sector. Telangana has already attracted investments worth Rs. 8,000 crores in this sector and is eyeing to bag investments worth Rs. 50,000 crores and create 4 lakh jobs.
In addition to bringing international fame to the state and the city, the Formula-E race has many collateral benefits in positioning Telangana as a torchbearer in the EV sector and making the state a hub for sustainable mobility.
Minor inconvenience is temporary but the benefits last forever for a sustainable future.