VIJAYAWADA: The death of a three-year-old boy after a truck loaded with mangoes plunged off the Skew Bridge has shed light on the faulty engineering design of the Benz Circle flyover and lack of vehicle speed controlling measures at the junction point near Fakirgudem.The Skew Bridge between the Benz Circle flyover and Kanakadurga Varadhi stretch has been posing a serious threat to both commuters and public residing in the locality.
With no speed controller mechanism on the stretch of the flyover, which falls under the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), many minor accidents are reported on a daily basis as heavy vehicles such as trucks, lorries and buses moving towards Varadhi fail to control the speed after descending the flyover.
On Friday night, a truck from Nuzvid on its way to Chittoor carrying mangoes lost its control and hit a container and plunged near the house near Skew Bridge.
“Had there been any barricades or enough rumble strips on the end point of flyover, the mishap would have been averted. The truck driver was found driving under the influence of alcohol. There is a huge need to place barricades at this point to avoid frequent accidents,” opined Bhanumathi, a resident of Fakirgudem.
The unexpected incident left the family of Veluganti Siva and Malleswari inconsolable as they lost their only son in the mishap.With more incidents being reported, residents residing near the Skew Bridge are requesting traffic officials to install speed breakers.A day after the incident, traffic police placed a danger sign board near the accident spot where the lorry plunged on Sunday.
“Since the stretch falls under NHAI, the role of city traffic is limited and we cannot take action in that regard. There are rumble strips on one of the flyover, but it does not serve the purpose. We sent recommendations to NHAI to rectify the faulty engineering design and take speed control measures immediately,” said a senior traffic official on the condition of anonymity.