Biker killed: Unmanned police barricades threaten safety, cause traffic jams

Delhi Police spokesperson Dependra Pathak said barricades are placed for access control in residential areas and on busy stretches to check criminals. He claimed that the incident on Thursday was a rare exception.

The death of a young biker in northwest Delhi’s Netaji Subhash Place on Thursday was not the only case where someone was injured due to ‘negligently kept’ and ‘unmanned’ police barricades.

Not all barricades in the city are manned.

In several parts of the city police barricades are seen placed unattended that lead to traffic and accidents.

Around one and a half month ago, a biker, identified by his first name Navin, suffered injuries around his neck when he rode into a metal wire used to tie police barricades in Shakarpur D-block area.

Contacted on his mobile, Navin said that he neither called the police control room nor filed a police complaint since his injuries were not serious. “As I was riding my bike at a slow speed, the metal wire did not slit my throat,” said Navin, who lives in Shakurpur and worked at his uncle’s eatery shop in Mangolpuri. He claimed that another such incident had happened in the neighbourhood a month ago but could not share details about the victim.

Delhi Police spokesperson Dependra Pathak said barricades are placed for access control in residential areas and on busy stretches to check criminals. He claimed that the incident on Thursday was a rare exception. “Since there was negligence, action has been taken against the policemen concerned. We will reiterate that police station staff follow prescribed guidelines.The person who last manned the barricade is responsible for removing it in a way that it does not cause any obstacle,” said Pathak.

In April 2013, a three-year-old boy was crushed under an unattended police barricade in east Delhi’s West Vinod Nagar when he climbed onto to it to play. The family of the child had alleged that staff from local police station placed barricades on roads, especially at night, for checking vehicles and abandoned them on the roadside after use.

Even now it is not an unusual sight in several parts of the city to see such barricades being left unattended. It poses a threat to passersby and also impedes traffic flow.

“I travel from Kishangarh to Noida every day and see barricades in the morning and no policemen near them. Some of them block the road that increase the chances of accidents,” said Rajesh Kumar, an IT professional.

After facing criticism for poor vehicle checking mechanism at police barricades that results in traffic chaos and sometimes major accidents, the Delhi Police had even organised a special training programme in 2013.

Professor Sewa Ram of School of Planning and Architecture, and road safety expert Sewa Ram said proper signboards should be placed around barricades even when they are in use.