As many as 24 unauthorised and ill-designed speed breakers have been built across the Capital since 2014, states a public interest litigation (PIL) filed in the Delhi High Court.
The petition, filed by an NGO, says that these speed breakers were constructed in violation of the Indian Road Congress guidelines and directions issued by the High Court in 2005.
Damage to vehicles
Poorly-designed speed breakers damage vehicles and pose a danger to human lives, the petition states. Further, jolts caused by speed breakers cause loss of the “golden hour” in many emergency medical cases, the petition adds.
Even CNG vehicles get damaged while crossing these speed breakers as cylinders are not mounted on the chassis but fastened to the bodies of the vehicles.
On the last date of hearing on May 3, the Delhi Police had informed the court that 93 unauthorised speed breakers exist on the city’s arterial roads.
In a status report, they stated that the traffic police cannot ascertain the correct position of the speed breakers in the interiors as these areas fall under the civic agencies and other authorities, such as the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the Delhi Cantonment Board.
Court wants identification
A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court had then ordered the Commissioners of the three civic agencies and the Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) to jointly identify the method for physical verification of the existing speed breakers. It also asked them to ascertain whether there were any potholes or other such breakers, and whether there were open manholes.
The measurement of existing breakers — authorised or unauthorised — shall also be taken and the statistics complied into a report by all the agencies under the aegis of the Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic), the Chief Engineer of the DDA, Engineers-in- Chief of the three civic agencies, Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, Chief Engineer of the Delhi Cantonment Board; Chief Engineer (HQ) of the DDA and managing director of the Delhi State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation, the court said.
The PIL will now be taken up for hearing on August 16.
