GURUGRAM: Jersey barriers — short moveable walls made of concrete — are designed to ease commute on busy roads by dividing or directing traffic flow. Over the years, though, they have become a bit of a threat, because traffic police staff, who are their custodians, often disregard commuter safety while placing them haphazardly, to get the job done in a hurry.In Gurugram, traffic police are also known to tinker with their alignment almost daily, in an effort to experiment with traffic flow, ending up surprising even daily commuters.This, added to the fact that almost all jersey barriers in the city are old, with paint peeling off and lacking blinking lights or reflectors, has made these barriers somewhat of a menace on the streets.It was at one such barrier, placed at the Genpact crossing on Golf Course Road, that Tuesday's accident happened.Jersey barriers are widely used across city roads. At Bristol Chowk , for instance, cars heading towards MG Road face jersey barriers placed haphazardly in the middle of the road. Those at the sector 55-56 roundabout are placed in such a way that they are a threat to unwitting motorists. At Islampur Chowk on Sohna road, barriers have been pushed around just enough for bikers to cross through. “The barriers are so heavy they can’t be moved by residents,” claimed Aparna Singh, road safety officer (RSO). “Such gaps are left behind only if they are unsupervised at the time of installation. Often, crane operators tilt a barrier to allow labourers to cross, and leave it as is,” she explained.Meanwhile, at Nai Basti near Railway road, there is a single jersey barrier lying on its side, a danger to passersby.RSO Neeraj Diwan insisted jersey barriers should be properly maintained. “On most city roads which have these, some are lying on their sides, while others have a tilt. Also, there should be reflectors on them to ensure commuter safety,” he said. Fellow RSO Madhu Berry said jersey barriers must be freshly painted to be unmissable to motorists from far, lowering any chance of collision.Road experts agreed. S Velmurugan — head (traffic engineering and safety) of Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) — said, “Several jersey barriers in the city aren’t even painted in yellow and black, when authorities should additionally be using thermoplastic paint so that commuters can identify them easily,” he advised.Even manufacturers have questioned the way they are built, especially for city roads. “The weight of a single barrier should be 2,400kg, but ones in Gurugram are barely 1,200kg. Also, their height is much more (1,000m) than ideal (800m),” said Suneet Behl, business developer at Surabh Ferro Concrete Private Limited.“There is a design fault in the manufacturing of the city’s jersey barriers,” he added.As for traffic cops, their chief worry is there aren’t enough barriers in the city. “Traffic police identifies spots where they will be installed. Then a municipal agency gets them manufactured, which is when they should be fixing reflectors on barriers. This is not our job,” said Satish Kumar, SHO (east). MCG commissioner Yashpal Yadav could not be reached, despite repeated attempts.Even then, regular motorists, who are used to a certain route every day, say they are regularly surprised by jersey barriers, which are relocated daily. With driving on Gurugram’s roads already a challenge, they feel it should never become a guessing game.RSO Aparna Singh felt these barriers should be removed completely. “There’s no need for concrete barriers on the roads. Didn’t the authorities know where U-turns or intersections would be needed when they were planning the roads? We should find a solution to replace jersey barriers with something that can absorb a vehicle’s impact.”

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