CHENNAI: The committee to standardise speed breakers in Chennai, headed by the city traffic police and comprising various departments, has only met once since its inception in March and is now inactive. Speed breakers, on the other hand, continue to pop up by the day across the city, posing risk to motorists.
The committee, formed by the traffic police in coordination with the corporation, MTC, highways department, and CMDA, aims to standardise speed breakers as per Indian Road Congress specifications. It was established after the death of a 34-year-old man near Chitlapakkam owing to an illegal speed breaker in February. It held its first review meeting on March 20.
Even officials within the traffic department are unaware of such a committee. “We are not aware of any such committee. Until now, we have been sending requests to the respective departments based on the road location for issues regarding speed breakers. We sometimes paint the speed breakers ourselves, but it often fades within a few days,” said a traffic police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity.
During a visit to various locations across the city, TNIE observed numerous speed breakers that violate IRC guidelines. The IRC recommends a rounded 11m radius hump of 3m width and 10cm height to achieve the desired speed of 20 km/h. However, many speed breakers, especially arterial roads, do not comply with these specifications.
For instance, the speed breaker on TH Road near Ellaiamman Kovil is in poor shape and lacks any marking. TNIE also visited locations including KK Nagar, Ashok Nagar, T Nagar, Koyembedu, Thiruvottiyur, Royapuram, and Saligramam. The speed breakers in these areas vary significantly in their specifications.
On Mannar Mudali Street in Vadapalani, the road is only 20ft wide but has six-speed breakers. “As a long-time resident, I know where they are and slow down, but others face sudden jumps due to poor visibility and may lose control,” said D Murali, a 44-year-old auto driver from Vadapalani.
The speed humps on the roads near KK Nagar roundtana are broken, while on Anna Main Road they are uneven. On interior roads, there are even speed breakers with manholes in the middle of it.
When the committee was formed, it was announced that speed breakers could only be installed after obtaining clearance from the committee and that any speed breaker deviating from norms would be removed.
However, activists claim it is difficult to identify illegal speed breakers due to the absence of a list of authorised speed breakers in the city. “When I approached the respective official to get the list of sanctioned speed breakers in the city, I was informed that no such list exists. ‘Only the non-standardised speed breakers were noted, and action will be taken’ was the reply, which does not seem to be happening anyway,” an activist told TNIE.
“The committee became inactive due to the parliamentary elections. However, we will ensure that the committee is revitalised. In the meantime, the corporation will conduct an internal audit to address non-standard speed breakers across the city,” said Corporation commissioner J Kumaragurubaran.
Citizen audit report
The citizen audit report released by Arappor Iyakkam on Thursday highlights the poor quality of speed breakers across the city. According to the report, none of the 201 speed breakers audited met IRC specifications. A significant majority, 77.6%, exceed the prescribed height of 10 cm. Additionally, 65.7% lack essential black-and-white paint markings, 31.8% have moderately visible paint, and only 4% feature the required marking. Alarmingly, 94.5% do not have any sign boards indicating their presence.