Nearly two months after the Mandya district police suggested some remedial measures to bring down the number of accidents on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has started removing the saplings from the median.
In order to beautify the median, the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd., (KRDCL) had planted decorative plants and shrubs in the median between Bengaluru border and Mysuru border.
Improper planting
However, the saplings were not planted scientifically. As a result, the shrubs/plants were sprouting from the median’s sides at several places, posing danger to pedestrians.
Moreover, the plants and shrubs have been hampering the visibility, resulting in frequent serious accidents along the stretch.
In March this year, Mandya Superintendent of Police Bhushan Gulabrao Borase had requested the NHAI authorities to remove speed-breakers (road humps) and various seasonal flowering plants on the divider of the highway.
Meanwhile, the NHAI has already removed the road humps at several places and now, it has started removing shrubs from the median. The Department of Public Works, Ports, Inland and Water Transport (PWD) personnel, based on a request from the NHAI, have removed plants/shrubs from the median near Srirangapatna. They have decided to remove the plants and shrubs from median along the entire stretch now.
Sieving glare
According to the KRDCL officials, the saplings are sieving the glare from headlights of vehicles coming from the opposite direction and absorbing the suspended particles from smoke emitted by vehicles for the past four years.
According to Mr. Borase, on an average, about 530 accidents occur every year on the 70-km stretch between Ramanagaram border and Mysuru border. Of them, at least 100 have been fatal, Mr. Borase told The Hindu.
KRDCL had planted the saplings to beautify the median
In March, the Mandya police had suggested NHAI to remove plants from median to curb accidents
