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Watch it: Here's one of the many unmarked speedbreakers that could prove dangerous Pic/Lavanya Srinivasan |
But did you know that not all the speedbreakers in the city are authorised by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)?
The civic body has authorised only 282 of them. All the others, according to the BBMP, are unauthorised and do not have any mention in their records.
This fact was revealed when BBMP responded to an RTI application by Mohan Kumar, a techie, seeking information on road humps.
Unnecessary
Most road users feel that some of the road humps are just not needed, while some appear to have been put up hastily, causing damage to motorists' spines and the vehicles' suspensions.
A lot of these humps do not even have white lines marked on them so that it is visible from a distance.
"These road humps do not stand out from a distance, making motorists apply sudden brakes," said Druvaraj, a traffic constable.
However, for a speed breaker to be constructed, the traffic police has to notify the traffic engineering cell (TEC) of the BBMP, which will then construct it based on the requirements.
But even the BBMP, which is responsible for constructing humps, has failed to follow IRC rules and not many of them are built according to these standards.
"We have come across several accidents at places where people have got speedbreakers constructed in front of their houses, without consulting officials," said Dhruvaraj.
"Riding my two-wheeler (on the humps) had made my life difficult. The continuing problem prompted me to file an RTI application to know the reality behind the numerous humps," said Mohan Kumar.
Thanks to the RTI, the repeated questioning has changed the mindset of the BBMP and the police.
"The BBMP has already called tenders for modifying 400 humps in Bangalore, divided into 10 packages," says M N Srihari.
"There are a large number of road humps in the city and it is very difficult to prevent people from constructing a road hump or removing them.
"The road humps serve a very limited purpose, but they are mainly meant to reduce the speed," says S Subramanya, BBMP commissioner.
Work done
"About 40 per cent of the pending painting work on the speed breakers will be completed soon," assures Praveen Sood, ACP (traffic and security).
Taking its toll
Suryaprakash Chavan (22)was on his way back after dropping his friend in BTM Layout at midnight. He didn't notice the unmarked road hump. His motorbike jumped the breaker and hit the divider. He died on the spot.
Yatish (21) died on the spot when he hit a speedbreaker on Magadi Road.
