By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Speed breakers or road humps as they are called have now become an integral part of one’s travelling experience. But more often than not, these road humps which are constructed in the city without following mandatory guidelines have created a lot of inconvenience to the general public.
Travelers and drivers alike are facing horrible experience due to the presence of these speed breakers which are mostly uneven in size and do not conform to the guidelines specified by the Indian Road Congress (IRC).
Sadly, the State PWD does not seem to bother about following the specifications laid down by the IRC before constructing these speed breakers or road humps.
As per IRC guidelines a road hump should have a central height of 10-12 cm, should be parabolic in shape and have a width of 3.5 meters and length same as the road width. The road humps should be painted in a ‘V’ shape and illuminated by solar cat’s eyes (solar cells embedded on pavements/road that reflect sun rays and glow in the dark) to make them visible. The humps should not be more than five meters away from the junction or the intersection. Two signboards, one at 20 to 30 meters and another 10 meters away from the hump should be placed for the commuters to know about the road humps ahead. Intrusion of tree branches should be prevented. Road humps should be put up only on the main roads and not on the cross roads. In ‘rumble strips’ (humps that have around 5 to 10 strips together), the width of each strip is to be one foot and the gap between each strip, one foot.
However, the road humps constructed on the city roads are found to flout all these specifications. What is most surprising is that there are speed breakers in the city constructed even on a curved stretch of the road.
It has also been observed that in some localities, the local administrative bodies sometimes construct the road humps on their own without even bothering to inform the PWD or seek any prior permission. The result – uneven humps leading to bumpy rides.
It has also been noticed that there is no proper indication about any speed breaker. Normally, the speed breaker should be painted in a ‘V’ shape. But it is not a difficult task to recollect that not a single speed breaker in the city is painted.
Non-painted speed breakers are a potential risk to drivers especially during the night hours. Many drivers have complained that they find it difficult to negotiate these speed breakers at night.
Some of the drivers have even complained that they have fallen into roadside drains since they could not spot the speed breakers on time.
It is also found that the trend of putting a sign board reading ‘Drive Slow Speed Breaker Ahead’ is no longer implemented.
The violations in road hump guidelines only indicate one thing — PWD engineers do not go to the site to select the location and dimensions of the speed breakers before their construction.
When contacted, PWD secretary PSG Lyngdoh has admitted that with the speed breakers not being painted it definitely puts a huge risk on the drivers especially during the night hours.
“I totally agree that the speed breakers which are erected in various parts of the city should be painted. We would definitely examine this matter to see that the speed breakers are painted,” Lyngdoh said while speaking to The Shillong Times on Sunday.
He also assured that the PWD would also see that the speed breakers are being erected by strictly following the guidelines of the IRC.
The PWD Secretary even though expresses his disappointment over the way that some of the local Dorbar Shnongs are erecting the speed breakers without bothering to informing the PWD.
Not only erecting of the speed breakers, he said that there are many instances where the local Dorbar Shnongs are digging the roads on their own which is really creating a lot of inconvenience to the department.