The district police department has installed convex mirrors at twelve blind hairpin bends on the Dhimbam ghat road on Dindigul-Mysuru National Highway 948 to curb the accidents, which have been on the rise, and the traffic congestion arising out of it.
The NH usually sees heavy traffic flow as trucks carrying goods and heavy materials to both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu take the stretch that has a total of 27 hairpin bends as its free of any toll gate.
As it was found that 12 of the 27 hairpin bends were sharp and dangerous, where accidents take place frequently, a decision was taken to install the convex mirrors at these critical spots.
“Based on the inspection taken out by the police and their field report, we have installed convex mirrors at 12 blind hairpin bends under the road safety fund,” said an official attached to the Sathyamangalam police.
According to police officials, the mirrors would help truck drivers easily spot the vehicles coming from the opposite direction and avoid collusions.
The move would also curb the road kill, as the NH passes through the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve where wild animals are often found to be crossing the roads, both during the day and at night.
The police have also sent a detailed proposal to install a weighbridge near Bannari to weigh the vehicles.
Presently, overloaded trucks take the Dhimbam ghat road on Dindigul-Mysuru NH and they often breakdown half the way down, disrupting the vehicular movement on the stretch. In such cases, traffic could be restored on the stretch only after brining in recovery vehicles to remove the vehicle that has breakdown.
As per the norms, only those vehicles with less than 16 tonnes of goods are allowed to access the Dhimbam ghat road. “With the help of the weighbridge, we can easily identify the trucks that are overloaded and deny them entry,” the official said.
Date: June 28, 2018
Source: The Times Of India