BANGALORE: Bangalore would probably be one of the only cities in the country to have such a vast variety of road medians and dividers. It seems almost as though the civic agencies want to exhibit their creativity by coming up with new formats for the dividers and the medians. From six inches of concrete slabs to metallic barricades, wide medians that can cater to tiny, yet lush green gardens (sometimes even serve as a temporary dump yard for construction debris — MG Road) to narrow medians with railing that sport intricate detailing.When crashed intoWhile the lack of uniformity is one issue, distorted and irregularly placements is a more serious matter that the Palike seems to have overlooked. The condition of the Domlur median has evidently been ignored for long. After an accident, when a vehicle crashes into it, the railing on either sides gets distorted and bends out of shape, towards the road. Also, due to neglect and lack of maintenance, these railings are rusted with jagged ends. A drive too close could end up scratching the vehicle, or worse, hurt someone.The divider on Kasturba Road is yet another end result of negligence. The median — part of the metal railing that is reinforced to the ground is protruding out precariously. “Given the kind of choc-a-block traffic that this road witnesses during the peak hours, someone could get very badly injured. The unfortunate part is that it has gone unnoticed,” said a software engineer on the condition of anonymity, who works on Kasturba Road.At they wishIn most residential areas, the locals themselves alter the placements of the dividers, especially if they are not grounded. Tipasandra, Bellary Road and Cambridge Layout bare testimony to such mal practice. According to a BBMP official, “Residents disturb the placement of the dividers to suit them.” The concrete stone slabs that are sometimes pushed out of line, or all together moved to allocate more space or constrict the movement.The blame gameThe new median on MG Road is a classic example of that. City Express had published a report, titled, ‘Metro construction on MG Road leaves behind a mess’ on July 11. According to BMRCL chief engineer, Hegga Reddy, the construction debris dumped did not belong to BMRCL. He further went on to add that the complaint was lodged regarding the same. It has been over a week since his statement, yet nothing has been done to remove the debris.What they have to sayAs far as the wide dividers on MG Road are concerned, BBMP superintendent engineer for Major Road Work (MRW), KT Nagraj, said that, the medians will be wide only under the metro. “The BMRCL is constructing the divider. The BBMP has nothing to do with it,” he said. Taking example of the divider on 100 Feet Road, Indiranagar, he informed that the MRW has laid 65 kilometres of reinforced concrete cement dividers so far. “Over the last one year we have spent approximately `10 to 15 crore on these dividers. After consulting with the traffic police we found that accidents have reduced by 23 per cent in areas where these dividers have been laid,” he revealed. These dividers are 0.5 metres tall and wide and narrow down to 0.3 metres at the top. Such dividers help in preventing crisscrossing and lane jumping, he added. Commenting on the state of the distorted dividers and medians he said that MRW will safely remove and replace all such medians as soon as the funds for the same are allotted. “We are waiting for the road widening to be completed on Kasturba Road. Once that is done we will replace the dividers,” he said.Until the Palike figures out their hurdles, commuter will just have to look out for themselves.
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