Port Blair, July 21: Driving in Andamans has become a risky ride for most motorists because of the poorly constructed and unkept speed breakers on city roads.
Several accidents in and around city due to faulty speed breakers have brought to the fore the need for proper construction of the speed breakers with road safety features as in Andaman none of the speed breaker has equal or standard size.
Islanders are now demanding that all speed breakers should be properly painted and that there should also be warning signs ahead of each speed breaker.
Such flawed speed-breakers, marked or unmarked, are spread through the length and breadth of A & N Islands.
Officials are happy after only constructing speed breakers but what befuddle citizens is the different sizes and shapes of these speed breakers.
Some are low, some are high. Many of them are so unwieldy constructed that an unsuspecting driver has no option but to slam the brakes at the last minute.
“All over South Andaman region, speed-breakers that do not meet IRC norms of slope, width and breadth have been constructed. They pose a threat to citizens and their vehicles,” says a resident of Port Blair.
Indian Roads Congress (IRC) norms categorically mention that speed-breakers should be only four inches high, one metre broad with 1.25 metres of slope on both sides.
“After speed-breakers are built, they should be marked and necessary road signs put up to alert drivers. If these procedures are followed, many accidents can be prevented. A special squad should be formed to repair them within a fixed time period, say six months,” said an Islander.
In Andaman size of the speed breakers depends upon the wild imagination of the contractors and it seemed that after construction of these speed breakers nobody from APWD even check the size of these speed breakers, which ultimately put lives of common man at risk.
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