Good motoring
Wide but not safe
H. Kishie Singh

Purv Marg from Tribune Chowk to Transport Chowk was continuously being widenened for the past six months or so. Finally the work was completed and the road was opened to traffic. As you started the drive from Tribune Chowk, heading north, the road was a wide expanse. It looked like a landing strip at an airport. Only the painting of the white lines remained.

Then, one day that work too was completed, and what a sight it is now. It looks like a drunken sailor who has fallen into a barrel of whitewash, and has then crawled away. On this four-lane-wide Purv Marg—stretching from Dakshin Marg to Madhya Marg—there is not a 100-metre stretch where the white line is straight. There can be no excuse for this. The stretches on both sides of the road were dug up and new flagstones were laid. There is a tree at one spot which has been accommodated with a gentle curve.

But what would be the explanation for planting a pole on the road, effectively reducing one lane to half its size (See accompanying photo)? On a dark foggy and misty night, a heavy vehicle could ram into the pole and bring the whole signboard, across the four lanes, crashing down onto cars, scooters, rickshaws and any other hapless person who happened to be around.

However, what amazes me and leaves me shaking my head in wonder is why did the engineers not move the support for the overhead signboard half a meter to the right? It would have been securely and safely out of the way of any harm. It would have made the road perfectly safe. As it is now, it is a disaster waiting to happen.

Incidentally, the left hand pole holding up the signboard is also set in the road, not on the berm, effectively building a bottleneck.

There is another example where no thought has been given to where bushes, shrubs and trees should have been planted. The greenery and beauty of Chandigarh is the vision of one man, Dr MS Randhawa. We would do well to replicate the work he has left behind. It would make the roads safer and beautiful at the same time.

On the north side of the roundabout at the junction of Madhya Marg and Udyan Path, some cactus bushes have been planted recently. It has been a very bad choice of plant at this particular roundabout. The cactus has leaves, at least a meter long, which end up in a point sharp as a sewing needle. They will penetrate flesh as easily as a razor blade.

One of the most common daredevil and foolhardy sights on our roads is an overloaded motorcycle. A child sits on the petrol tank, papa drives the motorcycle, mama sits at the rear, with a baby sandwiched in between them. In case of a mishap at this roundabout, if the occupants of the motorcycle are thrown off, they may land on the cactus. The cactus is a huge globe with up to 40-50-60 of these razor sharp leaves sticking out in all directions. A small tender body, that a moment ago was sandwiched safely between the parents, will be impaled by this cactus.

At the best of times the cactus is considered inauspicious and unlucky by exponents of Vastu and Feng-Shui. One accident at this point will prove them right.

Our signboards are all wrong. New roads being built are not safe. Little wonder there is confusion on our roads, and the death toll is mounting. The motorist is not to blame. He is only an accessory, if not victim to this rather casual approach to traffic management.

Happy motoring.