Apathy Over Rumble Strips And Unkept Promise Likely To Turn Voters Away

HYDERABAD: Motorists are irked by the bone-jarring ride caused by rumble strips on the city’s roads, some of which are so badly constructed that they push a vehicle off the driving axis and, ironically, make driving unsafe.

The strips are so irksome that some motorists have said that unless action is taken to remove the rumblers, it would be difficult to trust the BRS again. "If there is one single reason why people of Hyderabad wouldn't vote for the BRS, it is these monstrous rumble strips laid across the city that are  breaking the backs of motorists," said Janga Sarma, a retired public servant.

Many said that the strips had become problematic enough to reconsider who they put in power. "The minister concerned, K.T. Rama Rao, is busy attending meetings, seeking votes with absolute confidence and directing his officials over social media. It has been more than two months since he asked GHMC engineers to work on the complaints but nothing has happened since," said bike taxi rider Sanjay Kanth P.

On May 6, Rama Rao, in reply to a tweet complaining about the rumble strips, had tagged the GHMC commissioner and civic authorities and asked them to 'make necessary changes'.

About two weeks later, on May 18, nodal agencies said they had decided to remove the rumble strips. Rama Rao had directed officials to stop laying more rumble strips and instructed them to properly fix those which were higher than the permitted 5 mm.

Multiple agencies including the GHMC, the TS Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) and Hyderabad Road Development Corporation Limited (HRDCL) had laid unscientific rumble strips since 2019, after they were first suggested by an inquiry committee following accidents on the Biodiversity flyover.

"What was meant to be on laid on highways and flyovers came to arterial roads and even lanes. Why does Habsiguda need so many rumble strips, which are so thick? Who is overspeeding on these streets,”asked Manu Mishra, a resident of Habsiguda.

When this correspondent checked, Street No. 8 of Habsiguda, also called Captain Veera Raja Reddy Marg, had 18 (nine sets) of rumble strips over a distance of 1.6 km. The strips defy the 5-mm norm and are in sets, each strip separated by about a metre. "The lane has two big schools and a hospital, children travel to and from the school in school buses that jump up high each time they cross the rumbe strips," said a parent.

Even as he said these words, a bike-rider could be seen negotiating the rumble strips with one hand, while holding a toddler on the vehicle’s petrol tank with the other.

Officials had earlier said that orders were given to remove unscientific rumble strips by hiring a private consultancy. "Official communication was made to all the city departments in this regard," he had said.

Meanwhile, many motorists have complained of being diagnosed with back and neck issues including 'lumbar spine spondylitis' and disc injuries, caused at least in part by their vehicles jarred by the rumble strips, apart from suspension troubles in their vehicles. "I'm having to give my bike for servicing more often, thanks to these strips," said Amrutha V, a student from a college in Ramanthapur.