Four-laning project underway with little safety measures

Nikhila Pant Dhawan

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 10

A web of open trenches on both sides of the Bathinda-Barnala road has begun posing threat to the lives of commuters.

To make matters worse, many of these trenches have protruding iron rods which may cause severe damage to vehicles and injuries to travellers.

The Bathinda-Barnala by-pass road is currently being dug up, re-carpeted and undergoing construction as part of the four-laning project.

In the absence of any kind of markers, indicators, reflectors or barricading of these trenches, there is a huge risk of vehicles swerving towards them, especially during the night since there are no lights installed on these roads.

Over the past two weeks, there have been two-three instances when the drivers couldn’t judge the width of the road during the night and inadvertently maneuvered the vehicles too close to the trenches, slid headlong into them.

Although the problem decreases considerably during the day, dust kicked off by the vehicles also makes the view hazy.

“Due to the four-laning project, the width of both sides of the road has narrowed down. Often when another vehicle tries to overtake, there is not enough space left for both vehicles and that is when the chances of the vehicle falling into a pit increases,” said Dr Nitin Goel, a city resident.

Absence of lights on the roads is also a big problem for the drivers.

“At several parts of the stretch, traffic moves on only one side of the road. In the absence of any streetlight, there’s a greater threat since the high-beam light of vehicles coming from the opposite direction almost blinds the drivers. At such parts of the road, where trenches are open or have iron rods, there should be more street lights so that the drivers may see clearly,” said Ricky Bhateja, who often travels to Chandigarh by this road.

On Thursday, a tractor driver lost balance and was injured when his vehicle slid into the trench.

“It will be easier if the contractors spend some money on installing reflectors or glow signs near the trenches. These will work even if there are no street lights. Installing reflectors and keeping barricades near the trenches that have protruding iron grills is the most-cost effective way of minimising the danger that they pose to the drivers. The reflectors and barricades may be reused further in the project,” said an engineer engaged in the project, on condition of anonymity. 

Workers engaged in the project opined that the labourers had also not been given proper safety gear despite the fact that they were working with drilling and mortar mixing machines. 

“Aiming to cut cost, the firms are not very serious about ensuring safety of the labourers and the drivers. The way diversion signs have been put up at several points on the road, similar glow boards must be installed at the risky points to make the motorists alert,” the workers said.