Amritsar: Foggy days on, solar blinkers, stud lights go missing from BRTS lane

Charanjit Singh Teja

Amritsar, December 17

The Amritsar Municipal Corporation (MC) seems to have learnt no lessons from road accidents on the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) lanes during the foggy season last year.

After several road accidents, solar blinkers and stud lights were installed by the MC’s civil wing on the BRTS railing to prevent such incidents in dense fog last time. Foggy days are back, but warning lights have gone missing from the BRTS lanes along GT Road.

The stretch heading from the Golden Gate to Taran Wala Pul has become a major accident-prone spot as divider of the BRTS lane is constructed in middle of the road here. While coming from the Golden Gate side, vehicle drivers often fail to notice the BRTS divider.

Such dividers start from the Golden Gate Metro station, New Amritsar Chowk and after crossing an overbridge on Upper Bari Doab Canal (UBDC). Accidents were reported almost every day on the stretch during the last foggy season.

A few minor accidents have been reported on the stretch during the past few days. “Mostly commuters from other cities and states are victims as they are unaware of black spots on the BRTS lanes. Many locals are also not aware of dividers in middle of roads,” said Randhir Sharma, a resident.

“People from other cities and states, who travel in the night to reach Darbar Sahib in the morning account for most of the accident victims. In the absence of reflectors or warning signs, vehicles often hit the BRTS lane divider,” he said.

Traffic experts claim that the faulty design of the BRTS lanes causes accidents. A committee constituted by the state government had identified nine black spots on the 31-km-long BRTS corridor in August 2019. Officials claimed that during the past few years, the MC had installed all safety equipment on road dividers. The precautionary signs for safety, lights and reflectors were damaged in accidents, they said.