Victims of poor road layout

Twenty-one year-old B M Rohith, who is now behind bars, barely knew he would pay a heavy price due to unscientific road engineering. He had dropped his neighbour Manjula at the Satellite bus stop on Mysuru Road. It eventually turned out to be her last ride.

Rohith had failed to notice a road hump in the heavy rain. There was no signboard when he approached the Kengeri bus stop. As he rode over the hump, Manjula was thrown off. She died of head injuries later, and Rohith was arrested and imprisoned.

Leave alone deaths, the number of cases of life-time injuries due to accidents caused by improper road engineering is rising constantly. “Daily, at least eight accident caes are handled by hospitals with neuro and ortho facilities. Five of them are invariably caused by unscientific road engineering,” says a neurosurgeon at a reputed private hospital in the city.

“I have seen hundreds of patients, who are the victims of unscientific road engineering. They are crippled due to severe neuro and ortho disorders. They have become victims for not a fault of theirs,” he says.

A majority of the accident victims suffer injuries from neck to lumbar region and need some surgeries. An accident of this nature reverses the economic condition of many a family. “The number of cases of lumbar stenosis and cervical stenosis rising out of road defects are increasing in the City,” he says.

Dr Raju K P, Orthoapedic surgeon, BGS Global Hospitals, identified potholes and unscientific humps as two major factors for the increasing accidents. “There are many cases of spinal fractures, compression fractures and disc-prolapse, mostly from accidents due to humps and pot-holes. Road design in the City is very poor compared to foreign countries,” he says.

S Jayaprakash, a private firm employee in Whitefield, was the sole bread winner of his family. Two months ago, while riding home, he failed to negotiate an unscientific road hump near Malleswaram. He was thrown up in the air, fell down and suffered severe injuries. Says Jayaprakash: “I have been bed-ridden now. Doctors have told me that I am suffering from quadriplegia ( complete paralysis of the body from the neck down).”

Jayaprakash may never be able to walk again. He wonders: “Why should I pay a heavy price for the negligence of BBMP for unscientific road engineering?” All his family members are now worried about the future as the accident has landed the family in deep financial trouble.

R Madusudhan, a sales executive from Yeshvanthpura, has been strictly instructed by the doctors not to ride two-wheelers. Reason: The 25-year-old Madusudhan could not bear the pain on his lower back. It  was a case of spinal disc herniation ( slipped disc).

Frequent riding of the bike on pot-hole filled roads and unscientific humps triggered his neurological disorder. “I am worried of the surgery considering my age and I am concerned about my job as well,” he says with much anxiety.