Sir,

The three tragic deaths and over 20 accidents within 24 hours, attributed to poorly designed road humps on Bogadi Road, is both shocking and distressing. This unfortunate incident adds to the toll of lives lost due to hastily implemented and randomly placed humps across our city. Compounding the peril posed by these road hazards is the complicity of local residents and institutions, often insistent on the installation of such humps without due consideration for the safety of motorists.

In this particular instance, the University of Mysore Vice-Chancellor reportedly requested for road humps and it is noteworthy that the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) seemingly rushed to install four humps within a short stretch of road. The consequence is now a tragedy for three families.

It is crucial to recognise that neither institutions nor residents possess the jurisdiction or authority to request or install road humps. Numerous irregularly shaped humps have been jeopardising motorists’ safety with potentially disastrous outcomes.

As a resident of the city for the past 34 years, I have personally observed around 12-15 deaths reported in newspapers due to road hump-related incidents. These occurrences are often overlooked and attributed to negligence, as exemplified in the latest case where an engineer from the MCC claimed that white stripes could not be applied due to asphalt not drying. It is incomprehensible why some basic safety measures, such as placing white stripes or marks on both sides of the humps with informative text in red or yellow, were not implemented.

As rightly highlighted by SOM, this issue reflects nothing but official apathy. The prevalent practice of indiscriminately placing road humps everywhere, even at the behest of residents without proper assessment, has become a norm. While it was hoped that recent road hump installations followed scientific principles, this tragedy exposes the peril of overzealous actions without requisite permissions.

To address this pressing concern, it is imperative to assign the sole responsibility for creating, altering and removing road humps to a single authority, such as the City Traffic Police.

Accidents resulting from road humps should be annually reported along with other road safety data. Existing road humps should undergo a thorough examination to ensure compliance with prescribed standards, and any found to be unscientific should be promptly rectified or removed.

While the necessity of road humps in certain locations, such as intersections, is acknowledged, their installation on single fast-moving roads poses an imminent danger. Decisions regarding road humps should be grounded in scientific studies and controlled activities.

– Shivaram Nayak, Hebbal 1st Stage, 31.1.2024

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