Monday, November 14, 2016

Building Hazards...

The bye-pass road of Bolpur is being widened. The road was dug up to couple of feet on one side, and then the work was stopped for months. Now it is dug again, and the works have resumed. However there is no sign where the existing road ends and the new digging starts. At least some markers and indicators must be put to show that there is a hazard just on the left of the vehicle that is driving on the left side of the road. It is not good enough to build good roads. We must also ensure that we don’t build hazards with them!

That takes me to the lane from near Kalishaher temple towards Rathindrapalli in Sriniketan, near Shantiniketan / Bolpur. Yesterday, 13 Nov, while biking on the road, a car came opposite of me. When I went to the left side of the road, I saw a deep crate that was totally unprotected and was supposed to function as drain! Some how I managed to balance myself and didn’t fall into the ditch. I am sure that this is a normal site of Bengal…and probably that of the country as a whole. Departments think within their own boxes. So, the gentleman who plans the road just doesn’t care about the drainage as that is of another department…and doesn’t even bother to put up a signage or marking or a railing to protect the travelers on the road.


These are people who build hazards, not pathways. Government’s post-completion audits must include number of hazards added after its development works are completed, and also such engineers who execute faulty plans must be punished.

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