A prominent stretch of road of about 3 km in the Baleswar headquarters town has as many as 54 speed breakers which cause serious inconvenience for the denizens.
The Works Department, which constructed speed breakers, said they could do little as the district administration as well as the local residents pressurized them to do so to curb accidents on the road.
The department said that the speed breakers on the stretch were made following a direction of the district administration after a meeting was held following a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Baleswar was run over by a school bus on July 7 last year.
In fact, the Works Department has constructed as many as 42 humps on the stretch of 2 km, while the locals have constricted the rest. The bikers and motorists are facing serious inconveniences on the road as the speed breakers have been made roughly within every 50-100 metres.
“The local villagers and civil society bodies, alleging that absence of speed breakers led to the loss of life of the KV student, had demanded construction of humps on the road. So the decision was taken in the meeting,” said Works SDO SS Dey.
“When we began construction of the humps in the vulnerable patches, the locals pressurized to construct speed breakers near their habitations too. In nine locations, 54 humps have been made,” he stated, adding that the speed breakers could be removed if the district Collector asks so.
“The road has become virtually unfit for use as there are too many humps within a short stretch. The administration should consider removing them,” said social activist Raghunath lenka.
The road links the Chandipur beach, defence establishments and Balramgadi to OT road via ITI square.
Meanwhile, district Collector Pramod Das said, “The Works Department was asked to construct speed breakers on either sides of KV(school) gate. However, the locals constructed the others. The issue would be reviewed and appropriate action would be taken.”