Breaking the Breakers!
Taking the bull by its horns, the Mumbai Traffic Police have launched a blitzkrieg against illegal speed-breakers, writes Gajanan Khergamker
Mumbai's DCP (Traffic South) Pradnya Jedge says, "Besides the illegal ones, constructed without police NOC, there are requests that we receive regularly. For instance, I have been receiving incessant requests to install speed-breakers at several spots in Byculla, where there are a lot of traffic issues, but I have not given permission for the same.”
The Draft’s campaign against illegal speed-breakers across Mumbai’s roads, as part of DraftCraft International’s The Public Space Project, is finally meeting with success. Mumbai Traffic Police headed by Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Anil Kumbhare, has now firmly resolved to tackle the issue.
As opposed to sporadic demolitions of illegal speed-breakers following a flurry of complaints after a road accident, this time around, the police have undertaken a systematic drive to address the issue and enable smoother movement of vehicular traffic and safety for pedestrians.
The department has been conducting surveys, identifying illegal speed-breakers, intimating the BMC and…finally demolishing the unauthorised structures.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Anil Kumbhare maintains, "The demolition of illegal speed-breakers, this time around, was started in Andheri-Kurla zone and will gradually be taken to all parts of the city. Time to time, we will review illegal speed-breakers which have been put by residents and cause inconvenience to public and without obtaining necessary permissions."
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| PI Yogesh Tandale of Sahar Traffic Division overseeing the demolition of an illegal speed-breaker |
On the issue of ‘rumblers’ put up by local residents an alternative to cemented speed-breakers that need approval from the traffic police by way of an NOC, Mr Kumbhare clarifies, "Speed-breakers include rumblers too and if found to be illegal, they will be demolished. To register an official a complaint about an illegal speed-breaker, one must approach the local police and the BMC."
In accordance with the guidelines established by the Indian Road Congress, dated 12th June 1987, speed bumps in India should be situated on minor roads as per the following directives:
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| PI Samadhan Pawar of Sakinaka Traffic Division overseeing the demolition |
The application of speed bumps is deemed appropriate only under these three specific circumstances:
• T-junctions connecting minor roads with rural trunk highways, characterised by relatively low traffic volumes on the minor road yet exceptionally high average operational speeds and inadequate sight distances. These locations exhibit a significant history of fatal accidents, hence the recommendation for a speed bump on the minor road.
• Intersections where minor roads meet major roads, and sections within urban areas that fall between intersections, where it is desirable to lower vehicular speeds.
• Selected local streets within residential areas, educational institutions such as schools, colleges, or university campuses, hospitals, and similar areas. Additionally, in zones where traffic exceeds the prescribed or safe speed for the area.
Further situations where speed bumps may be employed include:
• Any scenario where a consistent pattern of accidents is primarily attributed to vehicle speed. For instance, on hazardous segments following an extended straight approach.
• Approaches to temporary diversions.
• Approaches to weak or narrow bridges and culverts that necessitate speed reduction for safety reasons.
• On the minor arms of unregulated junctions and at railway level crossings.
• Sharp bends with inadequate visibility distances.
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| DCP Pradnya Jedge |
“Depending on the validity of the need and following an on-the-spot survey by my officials, we permit the construction of a new speed-breaker but only in line with the law; Which means that if there's another speed-breaker within the prescribed distance, we shift it to maintain the law on the 100 mt distance between two speed-breakers," says Ms Jedge.
"There are several issues regarding illegal speed-breakers across Colaba too, the Gateway of India stretch included. We have recently informed the BMC of the illegal speed-breakers and rumblers recently and will collectively act on the same."
It may be recalled the IRC guidelines, for all practical purposes, are dodged conveniently. While the world’s tourists converge at the Colaba zone, the law is flouted with wild abandon. That is until a VIP visits the zone, which is often considering the zone’s proximity to INS Shikra, when all the illegal speed breakers are broken and removed overnight: Needless to say, the speed breakers swiftly reappear once the VIP leaves.
Sakinaka Traffic Division In-charge PI Samadhan Pawar says, "In the Sakinaka traffic division, we have removed 12 illegal speed-breakers. We first matched the BMC records with our own, identified the unauthorised ones and intimated the BMC to remove them. The BMC team, with the protection of the police, completed the demolitions carried out in mid-March."
The city will always have mischievous locals who will construct speed-breakers in the night, away from the purview of the law, at whim. But the law on speed-breakers must be followed and in the absence of permissions on distance, NOCs, height, degree of slope, clear marking, etc., being followed, they must be removed time and again as the Mumbai Traffic Police have proved.
Sahar Traffic Division In-charge PI Yogesh Tandale says, "Four unauthorised speed-breakers on Sahar Road were recently removed with the help of BMC East Ward officials. These not only slowed down the traffic at the spots but triggered a rippling effect detrimental to smooth flow of traffic in the zone."
Sadly, on Ground Zero, violations of the law are galore. A case in point being: On the 300-metre stretch of South Mumbai’s Colaba precinct near Gateway of India, from The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel to Radio Club are a whopping 39 Speed Breakers of all shapes and sizes and installed completely illegally at the whim of fancy-free local residents in the by-lanes and all along Mere Weather Road that runs parallel between the touristy Apollo Bundar Road, along the Gateway of India stretch, and the main Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, connecting Regal to Colaba Market.
As for the Gateway of India precinct in Colaba, which is the city's prime zone and peppered with numerous illegal speed-breakers, as reported by The Draft too, Jt. CP (Traffic) Anil Kumbhare says, "We will look into it."
(With inputs from Manu Shrivastava)
Watch a video on the demolition drive here.
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