The sight of civic workers mechanically scrubbing freshly painted roads added to the controversy.
A PWD engineer said India’s road-marking requirements, including IRC:35 and specifications issued by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, prescribe material-performance and skid-resistance parameters. Urban road-marking guidelines call for an initial British Pendulum Number (BPN) of 55 and a minimum threshold of 45, the engineer said. The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) also installed anti-skid reflective road studs and reflective buttons on the flyovers, while police announced restrictions on the movement of two-wheelers on them during rain.
Kolkata police commissioner Ajay Nand said additional precautions were being taken to ensure the safety of two-wheeler riders on Chingrighata flyover. We have issued cautionary boards and will regulate bikers from using the flyover when it rains,” Nand told TOI. Officers of the Beliaghata Traffic Guard said speed monitoring had been intensified on Chingrighata flyover, with motorists exceeding the prescribed speed limit facing prosecution.
State Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Agnimitra Paul, who had overseen the pre-Puja road-painting drive, initially defended the exercise, insisting that the material was anti-skid. “The paint used is anti-skid. Apparently, there is no chance for vehicles to skid. The painting has been done to keep up with the mood of the festive season and it is not a permanent feature. Road and civil engineers questioned whether the painted surfaces had undergone the necessary friction tests, particularly under wet-weather conditions. As complaints mounted, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) brought its roads and civil engineering departments into the exercise. Mechanical sweepers were pressed into service on Gariahat flyover to roughen the painted surface and reduce the risk of vehicles slipping. However, he clarified that the circumstances surrounding the incidents involving bikers had yet to be established, as police had not obtained CCTV footage of the incidents. “We are not sure how the incident took place as no CCTV footage is available. However, since a lot of reels of the rainbow road are available on social media, people may indulge in reel-making. We would advise them not to do so.
KOLKATA: Kolkata’s roads, in the final lap of Durga Puja preparations, witnessed the unusual sight of mechanical scrubbers working overtime to remove layers of paint that had been applied with much fanfare just a few days earlier. The colour will naturally wither away with time,” Paul told TOI on Wednesday. On the ground, the controversy translated into an unusual sight on Thursday: mechanical sweeping machines were deployed not to clean roads but to abrade the freshly painted surfaces and improve tyre grip.