Zebra crossing changes stripes to red and white at BKC

The colours are more visible on cement roads. Pics/Nimesh Dave

Can a zebra change its stripes? Er, no. But for the first time in the city, two zebra crossings' colours have been changed to red and white. The MMRDA has introduced them on roads in the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) near its office this week. The colours have been widely used in crossings in some other cities including Lucknow and Nagpur, for better visibility, and were used as per the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) colour code guidelines.

According to a source there is a difference between colour markings when a road is made of asphalt and of cement. While white and black are visible on a road made of asphalt, the same colours on cement roads are not properly visible. According to the IRC, in areas where there is more congestion, parking of vehicles at any place can cause traffic or if there is more movement of vehicles in corporate areas, then use of colour code 35 - use of red - is permitted.

BKC is a corporate area; in addition to government offices, there are headoffices of many banks and private companies, due to which the roads are some of the busiest in the city. Rahul Patil, deputy director (technical) of IRC said in the past few years red is being used often in crossings. Patil told mid-day, "According to IRC code 35, the zebra crossing can be painted red depending on the traffic in that area." According to the MMRDA, the red and white colours on the BKC road have a life of up to two years, but in Indian conditions it could be one year.