'Black spots' survive in mishap zone

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 24: Transport department and public works department have identified three "black spots" in the city but have not taken adequate safety measures to address the problem.

The three problem zones - on Janpath near Satya Nagar Kali Mandir Square on the Governor House-Jayadev Vihar stretch near Shastri Nagar Square and on the Jayadev Vihar-Nandankanan road near BPCL Petrol pump in Chandrasekharpur - were identified as black spots as these places have witnessed major accidents in the past.

According to the directives of road safety on black spots, the administration should install proper signage, crash-proof barriers and rumblers at these places. But the three spots do not have any of those. While the administration had put up only speed-breakers on the one at Satya Nagar, nothing was done at the other two sites. The accident data of the transport department reveals that the three identified black spots have witnessed 38 accidents between 2013 and 2015, which claimed 11 lives and injured 28 persons.

"We have identified the spots and are in process of taking steps to avoid accidents," said works department chief engineer roads O.P. Patel.

An official said of the three black spots, the most dangerous is the one at Satya Nagar, which alone witnessed 14 major accidents during 2013-2015. "This part of Janpath is critical because it is the gateway to Satya Nagar. There's a median cut where the accidents occur. Since it is not a proper junction, there were no traffic cops here and that did not help matters," said an official of transport department.

He said they had asked the public works department to put up signage, crash-proof barriers and rumblers to alert drivers as they negotiate the black spots. "We have also sought the help of police to regulate traffic at these spots," said the official.

Satya Nagar resident Bikash Nayak said: "A few months ago, they had put up speed-breakers on the main road near Kali Mandir Square close to the median cut, but there was no signage. The speed-breakers make the stretch more dangerous because many are not aware of them and fail to slow down as the approach the place."

While the administration is focusing more on the black spot at Satya Nagar, the ones at Shastri Nagar and Chandrasekharpur lack even basic safety measures. These do not even have rumblers or a sign warning riders.

"The road from Governor's House to Nandankanan is one of the deadly stretches of the city. It does not have any speed-breakers and the median cuts pose major risk of accidents," said Damana resident Narayan Ojha.

The 13.5km stretch from Governor House to Nandankanan, where two of the black spots lie, have around 16 major junctions. In order to avoid accidents and ease the traffic on this stretch, the public works department has recently planned to construct a flyover here. The flyover here would be the longest in the city.

Sources said the blueprint was ready and work would begin this year.