Team Herald
CANACONA: There are at least 30 illegal and ill-designed speed breakers on the NH66 starting from Polem in Canacona to Margao in Salcete.
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Despite, the Supreme Court judgment to remove these illegal speed breakers, the PWD, National Highways (NH) in their own wisdom haven’t removed or replaced these speed breakers making the commuters suffer while passing over these speed humps.
Locals lament that even after raising the “spine breaking” issue with the PWD NH authorities nothing has been done so far.
However, enquiries by this correspondent with the local NH authorities some time ago revealed that due to lack of funds they are not able to tender the work of removing these speed humps, some of which are not even required now due to change in road circumstances even at the pain of contempt of the Supreme Court.
Experts argue the speed breakers, besides being a hindrance for the smooth flow of traffic, are a safety hazard.
It is pertinent that the Indian Road Transport Ministry, in a circular, has ordered the State Governments and National Highways Authority of India to remove all the speed breakers from NH roads in 2016.
“An action taken report was also asked from such agencies. It will be interesting to know what action taken report is sent by local NH authorities to the Central government as the NH66 authorities have not taken any action,” lamented Satish Paiginkar, former deputy sarpanch of Poiguinim.
As Canacona lies at the far end of Goa many local residents have to use this road and the high haphazardly designed speed breakers which are too many on this route have become an irritant to smooth driving as even at slow speed the entire body upward of waist gets a jerk and a wild swing while negotiating this speed breakers locals complain.
Equally dangerous these speed humps are for patients, pregnant women or accident victims taken in ambulances for treatment at the district hospital as well as GMC.
Elders and other people with spine related issues complain of pain and aggravation of their sickness every time they have to use this road.
Two-wheeler riders are the most affected due to these ill-designed platforms and it is a common scene at most of the speed breakers to see the road scrapped due to the sliding and falling of two-wheelers.
Civil engineers say that building a speed breaker is not as simple as it looks. It needs to be built by following proper specifications laid down in the manuals of Indian Road Congress, but in Goa the speed breakers were mostly laid down by unskilled workers in the absence of the contractor as well as the NH officials.
Last year, the NH66 officials laid 30 rumbler strips at Shirlim near to Navelim. Every time a vehicle passes over these strips, the vehicle tends to go in the direction of the opposite lane suggesting that something is wrong with these strips.
These large numbers of strips are causing untold miseries to humans; vehicles are also damaged.
Anil Bhagat, a senior citizen from Canacona, say that while speed breakers can help in slowing down traffic and reducing high speed crashes, the unplanned, unpainted and illegal speed breakers are as much dangerous as the high speed crashes they are trying to prevent.
“Not even a single speed breaker construction can be justified by the Indian Road Congress guidelines which clearly state that there cannot be a speed breaker on National Highways,” Bhagat reiterated.
These speed breakers are a cause of many mishaps which mostly go unreported informed Diogo Da Silva, a social activist from Canacona.
“The speed breakers are badly built and aren’t marked with reflective paint which makes them invisible at night. Drivers who aren’t familiar with the road often lose control of their vehicles, causing accidents,” Da’Silva said.
