KOLKATA: Kolkata’s roads, in the final lap of Durga Puja preparations, witnessed the unusual sight of mechanical scrubbers working overtime to remove layers of paint that had been applied with much fanfare just a few days earlier. The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) also installed anti-skid reflective road studs and reflective buttons on the flyovers, while police announced restrictions on the movement of two-wheelers on them during rain.The administration’s action followed a wave of social media posts purportedly showing multiple two-wheelers skidding on the rainbow-painted Chingrighata flyover after Wednesday’s rain. The videos triggered sharp criticism from bikers and motorists, turning the colourful pre-Puja beautification drive into a road-safety controversy and forcing multiple government agencies into damage-control mode.Many motorists questioned whether the multicoloured coating was the skid-resistant thermoplastic material prescribed for road markings. The sight of civic workers mechanically scrubbing freshly painted roads added to the controversy, with authorities now trying to undo or modify the very surface treatment they had introduced to brighten up the city ahead of its biggest festival.State Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Agnimitra Paul, who had overseen the pre-Puja road-painting drive, initially defended the exercise, insisting that the material was anti-skid. “The paint used is anti-skid. Apparently, there is no chance for vehicles to skid. The painting has been done to keep up with the mood of the festive season and it is not a permanent feature. The colour will naturally wither away with time,” Paul told TOI on Wednesday.She added that the government would act on expert recommendations if problems emerged. As criticism mounted, Paul said the cause of the skidding incidents needed to be investigated while stressing that the safety of road users remained the top priority. “Agencies will look into the matter and do the needful,” she said.Road and civil engineers questioned whether the painted surfaces had undergone the necessary friction tests, particularly under wet-weather conditions. A PWD engineer said India’s road-marking requirements, including IRC:35 and specifications issued by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, prescribe material-performance and skid-resistance parameters. Urban road-marking guidelines call for an initial British Pendulum Number (BPN) of 55 and a minimum threshold of 45, the engineer said.Engineers pointed out that even thermoplastic road-marking material is not suitable for coating an entire carriageway. While conventional thermoplastic markings must meet specified friction requirements, decorative treatments covering large road surfaces require specialised coloured surfacing systems and independent skid-resistance assessments.“Ordinary oil-based or household emulsion paints should never be used on a trafficked road unless they are specifically engineered and certified for that purpose,” a road engineer said.On the ground, the controversy translated into an unusual sight on Thursday: mechanical sweeping machines were deployed not to clean roads but to abrade the freshly painted surfaces and improve tyre grip. As complaints mounted, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) brought its roads and civil engineering departments into the exercise. Mechanical sweepers were pressed into service on Gariahat flyover to roughen the painted surface and reduce the risk of vehicles slipping.“We have successfully used mechanical sweepers on Gariahat flyover and done whatever was necessary to make the road surface anti-skid. We are keeping a watch on the situation and may need to intervene at any point to avert accidents in future,” a KMC official said.A senior civic official associated with the exercise said the type and quality of paint would henceforth be subjected to technical scrutiny before approval for application on road surfaces. KMDA officials were also directed to undertake similar corrective measures on Chingrighata flyover, where reflective road studs and buttons were installed to improve road guidance and visibility.Kolkata police commissioner Ajay Nand said additional precautions were being taken to ensure the safety of two-wheeler riders on Chingrighata flyover. However, he clarified that the circumstances surrounding the incidents involving bikers had yet to be established, as police had not obtained CCTV footage of the incidents.“We are not sure how the incident took place as no CCTV footage is available. However, since a lot of reels of the rainbow road are available on social media, people may indulge in reel-making. We would advise them not to do so. We have issued cautionary boards and will regulate bikers from using the flyover when it rains,” Nand told TOI.Officers of the Beliaghata Traffic Guard said speed monitoring had been intensified on Chingrighata flyover, with motorists exceeding the prescribed speed limit facing prosecution.“We are also staggering entry onto the flyover after rain so that bikers do not get an open stretch ahead of them to race,” an officer said.The commissioner clarified that no comparable restrictions had been imposed on the other two rainbow-painted stretches — Gariahat flyover and Red Road. “They are operating fine and need no restrictions,” he said.
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