User experience on the Biodiversity Park flyover on which three persons died in two different accidents within 20 days since inauguration, is very different from the assurances given by GHMC engineers that the structure was safe.
Several riders reported discomfort while driving on the flyover at the same spot where the fatal curve begins. Quite a few persons who have travelled on the flyover, aired their concerns on social media.
“I was on that flyover yesterday. We are at 40. Still it seemed a bit terrifying. The Uber cab driver told he's in this city for over 15 years and this is the worst flyover,” tweeted one Raju in reply to Minister K.T.Rama Rao’s post about the accident.
“I have driven on the same flyover at 50 kph... No one will drive at 49 Kph, pls be practical. That flyover has a steep turn. Very very very risky. Even at 20kph,” said another Twitter user Vishal Maheshwari.
Replying to him, one more user too narrated similar experience, saying he felt terrible on the curve even while driving very carefully.
Many also came up with plausible explanation of the faulty design. Some attributed it to the insufficient banking at the curve, while some others said the side barricades should have been higher.
“Sign board is something like “conditions apply” in mutual funds document.. How can we expect to read thru..?” questioned another user, finding fault with the speed limit being set at 40 kmph.
GHMC engineers have already clarified that there was no design fault with the flyover, and all the Indian Road Congress guidelines have been adhered to. The curve was incorporated to save on land acquisition cost, they said.
Civil engineering expert and professor from JNTU-Hyderabad, K.M. Lakshmana Rao says: The design has to be looked into from the drivers’ point of view, though technically the structure may be sound.
“Road design should accommodate bad driving too, so that lives are not lost. Simulation of driving experience should have been done before commissioning the flyover,” Prof. Lakshmana Rao said.
There are several templates such as glare and peripheral vision which need to be checked, but are not mentioned in code. The inner and outer curves should be symmetrical.
There should be transitional space between horizontal and vertical curves. When both curves attack at once, the driver could go into shock, and before he recovers, it might be too late, he said.
Meanwhile, the GHMC has constituted an independent expert technical committee to review the geometrical design, alignment, and safety parameters adopted in the flyover, and to advise over strengthening of the safety measures.
The committee has as its members: Advisor, Road Safety for World Bank Project, former Executive Director, APSRTC., and former professor, JNTU, S. Nagabhushan Rao, Traffic Engineer and Road Safety specialist and former head of Traffic & Transportation division, Central Road Research Institute T.S. Reddy, Associate Professor, Traffic & Transportation, Osmania University, Srinivasa Kumar, and Road Safety Audit Expert Pradeep Reddy.
The committee has, on Monday, made its first visit to the flyover to study its design aspects.
