GHMC to flout Indian Road Congress regulations

Hyderabad: Violating Indian Road Congress norms, the GHMC has decided to take up the reverse cambering of roads. Even though officials were aware of the violation, they claimed that it would minimise urban flooding.

Camber is the slope given to the road generally towards the pavements.  The requirement of camber depends on the type of pavement surface and the amount of rainfall. It is generally provided with the sole purpose of draining the rain water from the road surface towards the edges.

According to IRC guidelines, the elevation in the centre of the road should be a minimum of 2.5 metres above the surface. The parameters may vary based on the surfaces like plain, plateau, mountainous and steep. Besides this the cambering will be done based on the amount of rainfall which would be 2.5 per cent of the total road width.

A senior GHMC official said in order to tackle the urban flooding problem, the corporation has decided to do reverse cambering in order to collect the rain water in the centre of the road where storm water drains would be constructed.

Asked about the violation of IRC guidelines, the official said that the corporation would seek the help of the state government to amend urban development rules.

“Reverse cambering will be attempted for the first time in the country. This radical change will help in minimising rainwater contamination. The rain water entering into storm water drains in the centre of the road will be diverted to 400 under ground water tanks at different locations through steel reinforced polyethylene (SRPE) pipelines and stored for future use,” the official said.  

He said the project would be done on a pilot basis taking into account the pros and cons.