HOT TOPICS
SPOTLIGHT AGENCIES
Hazardous installations
Written By murali772 - 10 December, 2011
Bangalore Safety Citizen Reports walkability Transportation Infrastructure Pedestrian Infrastructure Pedestrians footpaths
This picture was taken on the footpath opposite Aadishwar showroom on the intermediate ring road (some 50M before the start of the Domlur fly-over ramp - approaching from Koramangala side). While such instances are not isolated across the city, what I found unique about this particular installation was its cross-arm covering almost the entire width of the footpath. Also, many of these cross-arms are not easily visible, particularly when it gets dark, posing a serious hazard to pedestrians. And, the problem persists even with the new single-pole installations.
Perhaps, BESCOM can offer a reward to anyone who can come up with a good solution?
Muralidhar Rao
COMMENTS
murali772 - 11 December, 2011 - 05:36
By my understanding, the cross-arm on the left side supports the vertical pipe fitting, rotation of which operates the isolator switch on top (not in picture). The cross-arm on the right, along with the brackets, perhaps help stabilise the left cross-arm during the operation of the switch.
The operation of the switch is done by linesmen standing on the ground. I had once suggested that it be done standing on the platform of their maintenance vehicle, in which case the cross-arm can possibly be fitted at a level of some 8ft from the ground, solving the problem faced by pedestrians. But, the BESCOM engineers didn't seem to favour that.
bialterminal - 17 December, 2011 - 01:45
The photo in this post is mind boggling. Who in their right mind would have designed such a contraption?
On the contrary i captured some photos of contruction in progress of a footpath in southern california. See how they have done an amazing job -
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/440/photo0113v.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/690/photo0116ug.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/521/photo0117q.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/718/photo0118m.jpg/
psaram42 - 14 December, 2011 - 05:45
DULT has finalized a foot path standard after a long time. Public consultations were thought un-necessary. It is expected to be on their web site any time now. Compliance to the same probably should start with this blog example hopefully.
Road standard which should include foot path is what is more important. All cables including power, communication, optical fiber, street lights etc all should be under ground with slots assigned to each one of them. [1] One way is to accommodate cables along Storm water Drains.
psaram42 - 17 December, 2011 - 03:15
@bialterminal
Comparison of the Californian city with Bangalore is unfair. The road width in the example links is many times more than that of the road in Bangalore under discussion. It is like comparing a palace with a hut.
Absolutely, need a design contest
sanjayv - 10 December, 2011 - 17:22
PRAJA.IN COMMENT GUIDELINES
Posting Guidelines apply for comments as well. No foul language, hate mongering or personal attacks. If criticizing third person or an authority, you must be fact based, as constructive as possible, and use gentle words. Avoid going off-topic no matter how nice your comment is. Moderators reserve the right to either edit or simply delete comments that don't meet these guidelines. If you are nice enough to realize you violated the guidelines, please save Moderators some time by editing and fixing yourself. Thanks!