Blame overbridge casualties on under-sized dividers

The death of a 35-year-old man due to a fall from Shreyas overbridge after being hit by a car has raised a lot of questions. It has affirmed the general feeling of the experts of road safety, and regular commuters, that the low height of the divider is putting lives at risk.

According to experts, the height of the divider must be more than one feet to avoid such casualties. In their opinion, civic authorities must pay more attention to the safety of the commuters travelling on the overbridges in the city.

Samir Pathak, a city based road safety expert, strongly recommends the same. "Commuters are more vulnerable on the overbridges than on normal roads, as bridges have curves and slopes. Drivers are more likely to lose control due to these factors. In the case of accidents, higher dividers can at least restrict them to one side of the road," opined Pathak, who believes that many lives can be saved with such precautions.

On Tuesday, Kaushal Shukla, a businessman who has his office near Shreyas overbridge, witnessed the accident. A Wagon R car went out of control after its tyre burst, jumped off the divider, and rammed into two vehicles coming from the opposite lane. A girl named Vaidehi Prajapati on her Activa was one of them. The second person hit was 35-year-old Ramesh Kushwaha on a Bajaj bike. Due to the severe collision, Kushwaha fell over from the bridge and died.

"This not the first time I saw an accident on this bridge. I witness almost 2 to 4 accidents daily from my window. Authorities must be extra careful in making bridges. If they put some hurdles on the divider, at least it saves the commuters of the opposite lane, who are rendered helpless if something comes crashing into them from the opposite side," said Shukla.

According to Pathak, once a tractor crossed the divider after its brakes failed and crashed on to the other side. "It happened a few months back, on the same bridge. It could have been avoided if the divider was taller, and was a solid structure instead of grills, which may not withstand the force of large vehicles" said Pathak.

However, officials of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation find nothing wrong in the design. According to a senior official who sought anonymity, the AMC follows norms set by the Indian Roads Congress. "According to the norms, the height should be 225 millimeters, which we have adopted and implemented in all the overbridges we have made. Therefore, we don't see any need to increase the height," he said.