Old kerbstones new cause of road danger

It took five deaths for the Public Works Department to wake up to the faulty road re-carpeting at Moolchand underpass in south Delhi.

It took five deaths for the Public Works Department to wake up to the faulty road re-carpeting at Moolchand underpass in south Delhi.

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Sign boards have now come up to warn motorists about the uneven surface of the road that has killed five and seriously injured several others in the last two weeks.

But the story of PWD’s apathy towards motorists’ safety repeats itself near the Ashram Chowk, just less than two km from the Moolchand underpass.

The latest trouble for motorists is in the form of cement kerbstones strewn along the central divider on the stretch after the Ashram Chowk.

People driving down the Ring Road towards Sarai Kale Khan suddenly come upon obstructions right after the busy crossing — hundreds of such kerbstones laid haphazardly. This is apart from the loose soil, uprooted plants and steel rods that are sprawled on the road where a divider recently existed.

The PWD is replacing central dividers at the stretch of Ring Road between Ashram Chowk and Bhairon Marg crossing, as part of its plan to upgrade arterial roads.

On the stretch, the old divider has been uprooted, but they yet-to-be-laid new kerbstones are stacked right next to them, posing a risk to motorists.

Unlike the Moolchand underpass, no cautionary boards or mandatory barricades are put up to separate moving traffic from the repair work.

“Boulders (kerbstones) have been lying on the road for nearly a month now. If any vehicle hits them, it would result in a breakdown or worse, an accident,” said Rudra Kumar Singh, a Lajpat Nagar resident who works in Noida.

“The kerbstones of the divider are being replaced as part of upgrading the road for the Commonwealth Games,” said PWD engineer-in-chief Rakesh Mishra. “The new ones are stacked at one side of the road in a line. The work will be completed within a week.”

On the missing barricades Mishra said: “I have given directions to put barricades where the work is going on. I will find out if those have been installed.”