Mumbai: Dear BMC, can you give us the right speed bumps?

Recently a car got stuck on a wide speed breaker in Kurla which according to the locals was not the first such incident This sparked a conversation about the cityrsquos speed bumps which residents said and even midday saw are uneven and not built as per the government rulesFor instance there are four speed bumps outside Phoenix Market City on LBS Marg in Kurla and all are of different widths and heightsDuring a visit to the spot midday saw two speed breakers built 50 metres apart just before the signal The road going the other direction too has two speed breakers right in front of the mallAccording to the governmentrsquos rules speed breakers should have a radius of 17 metre a height of 10 cm and a width of 37 metre to maintain a vehicular speed of 25 kmh for general trafficAlso Read Mumbai CSMTrsquos collapsed bridge will be up next monthThe viral incidentA video of a luxury car being pushed off the speed breaker outside Phoenix Market City last week went viral on social media Umesh Kumar the owner of a shop located right in front of the spot said ldquoEarlier the speed breaker was low in height But the height was increased about sixseven months back Since then many vehicles have got stuck here and we have to help the drivers get off Experienced drivers know how to cross such speed breakers ie diagonally but the new drivers find it hard to navigaterdquoThere is a school nearby maybe thatrsquos why the residents demanded the height to be raised he saidSanjay Singh a bystander pointed out ldquoThere is a terrible traffic jam on this road almost round the clock What is the need to limit the speed of vehicles thenrdquoNeed to follow rulesRishi Aggarwal a mobility expert said the speed breakers are essential for safety purposes However there is an absence of uniformity in the design of Mumbairsquos speed bumps he addedA member of Roads of Mumbai a community on Twitter that highlights issues related to roads also pointed this out ldquoMost of them are so high that it seems more like a car breaker The majority of speed breakers donrsquot have reflectors or painted stripes that are meant to alert the motorists which makes drivingriding difficult at night A signboard warning of a speed bump ahead is missing at most placesrdquo he addedldquoItrsquos a shame that Indiarsquos financial capital which has the richest municipal corporation canrsquot fix such basic yet essential things It also shows how serious they are about the safety of the citizensrdquo he saidMany unauthorised bumpsA V Shenoy senior transport expert with Mumbai Mobility Forum and Mumbai Vikas Samiti said ldquoMost speed breakers are unauthorised and provided by local corporators or leaders through their contractors They may be necessary but should be built as per the mandated standards Instead of building a speed breaker that is dangerous for motorists the authorities should install rumble stripsrdquoJitendra Gupta of the Mumbai Transport Forum said ldquoIt seems there is a lack of awareness about how and when a speed breaker can be called unauthorised Should it not be the BMCrsquos responsibility to declare which ones are authorised The public should be informed that any speed breaker built without following the rules of the Indian Roads Congress IRC becomes unauthorisedrdquoHe suggests that a separate central body be set up to monitor the implementation of IRC rules as it is a national document ldquoThis central body can make implementation mandatory by imposing fines on corporations Unless this happens BMC would continue to take people for a riderdquo Gupta saidBMCSpeakAn official from BMCrsquos Roads department said the speed breakers are installed by the local ward offices many a times on the demand of residents for safety near schools or hospitals ldquoAccordingly the ward office takes permission from the traffic police and builds one It is the duty of the official concerned to check whether itrsquos made as per the guidelinesrdquo theofficial addedMahadev Shinde assistant municipal commissioner L ward said ldquoWhen we build low speed bumps residents demand that we raise the height We do it with the permission of the traffic police In this particular case Phoenix we will inspect the site and act accordingly