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The ordeal on the roads continues

Unscientific Humps
Last Updated 02 February 2014, 11:39 IST

After the death of a six-year-old in an accident caused by an unscientific hump in the City recently, the BBMP has begun clearing these humps. Bangaloreans, meanwhile, are raising their voices about the problems they are facing thanks to these humps.

 

These humps can be seen in areas like Nehru Nagar, Subramanya Nagar, Malleswaram, Ejipura, Tumkur Road, JP Nagar, Jayanagar etc. Citizens like Devatha Venugopal, an administrative staff, says that the way the speed humps are distributed in the City is alarming. “One can see a lot of these humps on unnecessary stretches. They serve the purpose when they are in front of a college or school or other sensitive zones like hospitals. But they are missing in most of these places,” he says.

Others like Girish R, a project engineer, say that a lot of residential areas have these unscientific humps. “Why does one need humps in residential areas? The motorists have to apply the brake many times when travelling through such areas. It’s back-breaking,” he says. He adds that there are no speed hump signboards seen on the roads too. “My brother had an accident because he wasn’t aware that a speed hump was ahead, but we were lucky that nothing serious happened,” he shares.

Many in the City have been suffering serious back problems because of these humps. Sharada Karakyar, a homemaker, who has a spondylitis problem, says that a drive on the roads in the City is hell. “I have a two-year-old who I drive around with and the humps on the road have become a major issue for us. They are either very high or very broad, and one has no clue where the hump starts and ends as there are no markings on them,” she exclaims.

The authorities say that they are aware of the situation and will be doing the needful. B Dayananda, additional commissioner of police (traffic), points out that the traffic department had identified a number of unscientific humps last year and passed the list on to the BBMP, and that they have been working on these. 

“According to the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) norms, there are many faulty humps on the City’s roads and they are adding to accidents and causing health problems to the citizens,” he says. Dayananda adds that these humps make it difficult for motorists to manoeuvre on the road and the BBMP is working on removing them. 

The BBMP has been working on removing these speed breakers for a while now, vouches M Lakshminarayana, BBMP commissioner. He says that with the asphalting work going on across 400 kilometres in the City, the work will even out most of these humps. “Work is going in many areas like around Vidhana Soudha, Old Airport Road, the road to the new airport, Viveknagar etc,” he says. Ask him about other areas where the asphalting work is not going on, and he says that since it is double work, those areas will be looked at in the future.

According to IRC 99/1998 standards, a speed hump should be have a width of 3.70 m and a height of 10 cm, with proper markings. “There are around 6,000 unscientific humps in the City and around 60 percent of the unscientific humps will be cleared once the ongoing work is completed. We’ll be working with the traffic department to mark the existing speed humps in the City. After this, we will be keeping a close watch on the residential areas and other areas. In a year, we aim to remove all such humps from arterial roads,” he wraps up.

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(Published 02 February 2014, 11:39 IST)

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