No signs to warn drivers of deathtrap

Blame it on the faulty way of re-carpeting that yet another young motorcyclist lost his life at busy Moolchand Underpass in south Delhi on late Sunday night.

Blame it on the faulty way of re-carpeting that yet another young motorcyclist lost his life at busy Moolchand Underpass in south Delhi on late Sunday night. See Graphics

HT Image

The road is being re-carpeted in patches making it dangerous for two-wheeler riders to control their vehicles.

The new layer of bitumen being laid in this portion of the road is thicker than usual. According to PWD engineer-in-chief Rakesh Mishra, a 40 mm thick layer of bitumen is being used in place of the usual 25 mm because of several undulations along the stretch.

Caution signage and barricading, which are mandatory while any kind of work is on at a public place, were not put at the accident site till late Monday evening. And it was particularly important to have caution messages here, as the new layer was thicker than usual stretches.

But such uneven roads are not new for Delhiites. With more than 450 kilometre road network being widened and re-carpeted and several new flyovers and roads coming all over the Capital, Delhi roads have become deathtraps.

"There are many places where the road is rough because the contractor left the work midway. There is no barricading or signboards to warn that work is still not complete," said P Shukla, a chartered accountant, who takes NH24 everyday. This road is being recarpeted for past many months.

Traffic experts say putting up signages is the first thing any agency should do even before the work starts. "But it is not followed. It’s a culture that needs to be corrected. We are really concerned with the trend." said KK Kapila, chairman, International Road Federation.