PUNE: The civic administration has spent about Rs 25 lakh to install rumble strips on various roads in the city. This taxpayers' hard-earned money may soon become yet another wasteful spending if a recently formed committee decides to remove the rumbles.Many major roads in the city have rumble strips to arrest the speed of vehicles. Regular users, however, have questioned the need for these strips on smaller roads where the average speed of a vehicle cannot be beyond 25 kmph.Vehicle users claim they have been facing inconvenience as riding on these strips not only injures the vehicle but also them, besides slowing down traffic. TOI had recently highlighted this issue in its issue dated April 1, 2017.Sources in the administration say there is no clear policy for the civic body or the traffic police to install these speed barriers.In fact, the administration also lacks accurate data on how many roads have these strips and how they are maintained.This is because major works of installations were being taken up by local ward offices, they said. Installation of a set of rum blers, with 6 strips, costs the civic body around Rs 20,000. Over the last few months, these strips have been installed at many roads, costing the administration Rs 25 lakh, officials in the road department said.Officials said they expect some clarity on installation of strips now with the formation of the committee. It is set to come up with a policy to decide where and how speed breakers and rumble strips should be put up."This committee also has members of civic organiza tions, who will study the issues pertaining to provision of speed breakers and rumble strips," an official said.Following numerous complaints, the civic administration has now begun to remove the strips from some roads in Dattawadi area. A senior official in the civic administration said the strips were installed based on demand from local people.He added that the strips are often installed owing to pressure and demand from local residents and political workers, who insist on such installations. An official attached to the road department said that in many cases, the pressure is there from both sides. "Whenever an accident takes place on the road, local people press for provisions of speed breakers or rumble strips. They approach local ward offices to ensure the installations are done at the earliest. These demands, many-atimes, are backed by local politicians. Soon after installation, the road users start complaining about it and question its use," the official said.Regular vehicle users say the strips have come up even on smaller roads in residential areas. Riders have also pointed out faults in the installation and alignment of these strips. Nitin Rane , from the Shivajinagar area, said, "Strips installed on city roads are not up to the standard. Because of uneven heights, riders are losing balance while driving on these strips. Also, some strips are followed by a speed breaker. Why is there a need for a speed breaker if rumble strips are already installed? There is no uniformity maintained in the numbers of strips to be installed in one place too," Rane said.TIMES VIEWThe Pune Municipal Corporation has finally started removing rumble strips from select roads in the city following protests by vehicle users. These multiple sets of strips not only forced vehicles to slow down, but often also led to traffic build-up.While the tax payers' money has thus gone down the drain, what is more shocking is that no one is held accountable for this mess. The municipal departments are passing the buck to each other and accusing political leaders of putting pressure on them to install these strips without any traffic load study. It is time the civic top brass intervened in such matters. Road design and safety installations should not be left to the discretion of ward offices and corporators but should be in accordance with a set policy.

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