The authorities in Mysore seem to be converting all pedestrian crossings into road humps. The photo shows one under construction near Akaashavaani Circle. They are putting a hump of about 9" high and topping it with interlocking tiles. These works have some serious problems connected with them:
1. The cost of constructing a hump and topping it with interlocking tiles is much more than the cost of painting zebra stripes at pedestrian crossings.
2. The creation of innumerable road humps will needlessly slow down traffic, without providing additional safety to pedestrians.
3. Since zebra stripes are not painted on them, these pedestrian crossings are a danger to drivers, especially at night.
4. Many of these crossings are not at all provided with drainage channels and the channels that are provided are inadequate. When the rainy season begins, pools of water are sure to collect behind these humps and cause total nuisance to drivers and pedestrians alike.5. Many of these humps have steep sides on which the old and the infirm pedestrians are likely to slip putting them into needless risk.
6. The humps also do not meet the required guidelines of Indian Road Congress guidelines (IRC: 99-1988) on the construction of road humps. According to these guidelines, road humps are meant mainly for residential areas and minor roads. Their use on major roads is not considered good engineering practice and IRC explicitly discourages it. Even when road humps are an absolute necessity, these road humps do not follow IRC guidelines.
May we request the authorities to tell us where they got this idea from?