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Steel Bridge Will Have Rumble Strips, Despite KTR Order

HYDERABAD: Less than three months after nodal agencies decided to remove rumble strips from the city roads and instructed officials to repair those above 5 mm that are already laid, the soon-to-be inaugurated Indira Park to VST steel bridge continues to have several such strips.

Aerial pictures from the site showed several sets of rumble strips across the length of the bridge, much to the disappointment of motorists.

Minister K.T. Rama Rao had in May directed officials to stop laying of rumble strips, following complaints by motorists that they had become back-breaking to ride on.

Officials had been laying the rumblers in a haphazard manner after a four-member committee recommended laying of rumble strips in order to prevent accidents following the Biodiversity flyover accident.

"Despite rallying against the 'monstrosity' that these dangerous strips are on the road, they went ahead and put them up again, showing no regard to their own bosses. How unmindful or even irresponsible can the engineers be, even when the Indian road congress specifies against it," said Karunakar Kumar, a motorist, who had been tweeting about the issue for almost a year now.

Another road safety activist, who had started a campaign to push the government to act on the same, said that these rumble strips are needed only on highways.

"Though it's bad for cars and autos and their suspension, they hit two-wheelers the most," Haricharan. K told Deccan Chronicle.

Many others noted that the authorities did not even keep their primary promise of levelling the rumble strips where they identified their presence to be needless, and even dangerous.

"Even in places the strips were found necessary, they could have reduced the thickness from 15 to 5mm. Not only have they not done that, they're now making more of these," said Veena M, who rides her two-wheeler to college every day.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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