NDMC’s new signages pose a language barrier

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has put up sleek all-steel road signs on several roads as part of its beautification drive ahead of the Commonwealth Games 2010.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has put up sleek all-steel road signs on several roads as part of its beautification drive ahead of the Commonwealth Games 2010.

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But beautiful as the signages are, they may be far from serving their basic purpose of guiding commuters.

The reason? While all these signages have names of roads written in both Hindi and English but the names written in Hindi are not even visible to the commuters as they are on the reverse side of the signboard.

Some of these signages have been put up in roads like K G Marg, Tolstoy Road, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Ashoka Road, Maulana Azad Road and in area around India Gate.

A number of people had a lot of problem while driving, as the road name written in Hindi are not even visible.

“I usually pass through India gate to get to my office. I noticed that all the new signboards were only in English but I realised its impact only when my driver lost his way,” said Niket Verma, a resident of Sarita Vihar.

“He said it was because there were no boards in Hindi. But we soon realized Hindi was written on the back of the board. According to the NDMC anyone who wants to read it in Hindi should either drive the wrong way or get down in the middle of the road and look behind the board.”

A total of 150 signages have been put up and 40 odd signages will be put up by July 15.

“We have used retro reflective sheets that glow in the night. The project will be completed by July 15. A total of Rs. 65 lakh was earmarked for the project. W have also decided to have similar signages on major corridors such as Dhaula Kuan, Mother Crescent among others,” said a senior NDMC official.