Mumbai: Time to replace soft bollards with hard dividers?

Broken bollards short posts used to prevent traffic from entering certain areas are hindering efforts to control traffic and ease vehicular congestion on the Western and Eastern Express Highways midday visited both stretches to find that several damaged bollards had not been replaced and were largely overlookedTraffic department sources claimed they had written several letters to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC to fix broken poles but received no response from the civic body Generally orange in colour bollards are placed at either end of flyovers to indicate diversions to motorists Their main aim is to prevent accidentsldquoIf you see broken bollards it means that someone had rammed into them while speeding We usually write letters to the BMC telling them to replace broken postsrdquo a police officer attached to the traffic department said on condition of anonymityWestern Express HighwayDamaged bollards on the stretch between Bandra to Dahisar toll naka PICASHISH RAJEWhile travelling from Bandra to Dahisar several broken bollards could be seen along the 253km Western Express Highway In several cases many were entirely missing and some were strewn on the road acting as obstacles for vehicles At one spot bollards had been placed on top of a concrete slab for some reasonDahisar toll nakaA few kilometres away from the toll naka this reporter saw a BEST bus that had gotten stuck between broken bollards briefly exacerbating traffic congestion With the help of motorists and passersby the bus was eventually moved clearing the path for vehiclesThakur Complex flyover in Kandivli East PICASHISH RAJEThakur Complex flyoverDrivers could be seen dodging broken bollards near the Thakur Complex flyover in Kandivli East to avoid accidentsDamaged bollards at Kalanagar flyover in Bandra East PICASHISH RAJEKherwadi junctionBollards at this spot near Bandra East station seemed intact and in better condition than their counterparts on the other Western Express Highway midday spotted twowheeler riders ramming into a line of bollards in a bid to overtake vehicles due to which the posts were bent out of shape ldquoBollards are set up in a V shape near at either end of flyovers Drivers tend to ram into these posts which are meant for their safetyrdquo said the officerEastern Express HighwayWhen this reporter travelled from Mulund to Byculla railway station and back again via the 235km Eastern Express Highway EEH the bollards set up along the stretch in question appeared to be in slightly better shape compared to the ones on the Western Express HighwayCongested spot at in Ghatkopar East PICRAJESH GUPTARamabai Ambedkar NagarBroken bollards could be seen in this area in Ghatkopar East which appeared to be congested though traffic was swiftly flowing Fourwheeler drivers were seen to be carefully turning their vehicles to keep clear of bollards while twowheeler riders were also dodging themThe spot near the Metro 6 car depot where a significant number of bollards were missing PICRAJESH GUPTAMetro car depotA significant number of bollards were clearly missing or broken on the stretch near the site of the underconstruction Metro 6 car depot in Kanjurmarg Diversions were not clear to motorists and twowheeler riders due to thisThe stretch towards Thane on the JVLR flyover PICRAJESH GUPTAJVLR junctionAccording to the traffic police at least 2030 bollards are placed in a V shape on both ends of flyovers Bollards were found to be broken on the JVLR flyover stretch towards Thane and near the Kurla flyover towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj TerminusThe missing bollards at the Kurla flyover junction PICRAJESH GUPTAOfficial SpeakAccording to the police the traffic department writes letters to the BMC regularly and a decision is taken to replace broken bollards at regular intervals ldquoOnce we see that bollards are missing we write to the BMC asking that they be replacedrdquo the official said A BMC official told midday that the civic body acts upon receiving letters from the traffic authorities ldquoWe frequently change bollardsrdquo the officer said