Yet another effort is being made to remove the new Greenlands flyover and old Begumpet Rail over Bridge (RoB) merger point, the cause of many fatal accidents.
GHMC has managed to find a technical firm, Pragati Consultants, to study the work, come out with fresh designs for submission to the South Central Railway (SCR) for approvals to remove the small erstwhile footpath causing danger to motorists besides being a bottleneck, senior officials said.
SCR's contention has been that removal of the footpath would weaken the very RoB itself and are amenable to change their mind only if the designs are approved by their own engineers as well as IIT professors.
The method was followed when the new flyover work was taken up as the municipal corporation itself then took up structure work atop the rail tracks which is usually the railways' domain.
Noted consultant Mahesh Tandon, initially nominated to prepare designs for removing the footpath in the median, was eased out of the work following a few construction mishaps on Delhi Metro as well as critical remarks he had attracted following the Punjagutta flyover incident. Pragati was chosen after three earlier tenders elicited no response, said senior officials.
Safety features
In between, following a public outcry over several fatal accidents due to the footpath being in the middle, GHMC had put up a few safety features a year ago. These included rumble strips (speed breakers) with solar studs, chevron markings, and collapsible vertical poles with radium stickers, solar reflective raised object markers, cautionary sign boards and blinkers . But, most of them seem to have worn out now.
