NHAI: Metal railings to be removed from all flyovers on Del-Ggm E-way

A day after a delivery driver died after he was impaled by an exposed metal safety pipe on the Delhi-Gurugram expressway, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Tuesday said it is expediting the removal of the railings from all the flyovers across the 28-km road

A day after a delivery driver died after he was impaled by an exposed metal safety pipe on the Delhi-Gurugram expressway, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Tuesday said it is expediting the removal of the railings from all the flyovers across the 28-km road.

Exposed railings seen on mahipalpur flyover in September.

A senior NHAI official said that metal railing had been left exposed at some points on the flyovers because of theft. The removal work is part of the ongoing tender for upgrading the expressway starting from Rao Tula Ram in Delhi to Kherki Daula toll, Haryana.

“We were already removing these metal railings from the flyovers but have decided to expedite this work and complete it in the next two weeks,” said the senior NHAI official.

Hand railings on NHAI flyovers are structural steel safety installations fixed on concrete crash barriers to provide pedestrian safety, visual guidance, and maintenance support.

“The accident in which metal railing pierced through the victim is unusual. At many places, the metal hand railings have been stolen due to which there are gaps. However, to prevent any such incident in future, it has been decided to remove these at the earliest,” the official quoted above added.

According to investigators, the 37-year-old victim, identified as Ajay Kumar, was allegedly hit by an unidentified speeding vehicle, following which he fell onto the concrete crash barrier along the expressway near Signature Tower early Monday. The exposed end of a metal pipe fixed along the barrier pierced him, killing him on the spot.

The expressway has nine flyovers located at Rao Tula Ram Marg, Mahipalpur, Rajokri, Udyog Vihar, Iffco Chowk, South City, Sector 31, Jharsa, and Rajiv Chowk.

Another NHAI official, who is aware of the matter, said that they have already removed metal railings from the RTR flyover in Delhi. “These railings are quite strong and our team is deployed during the night to remove them as there is heavy traffic on the expressway during the day hours,” he said.

NHAI officials also said that they are in the process of removing jersey (concrete) barriers on the service lanes of the expressway wherever permanent walls have been constructed to ensure safety of commuters.