14 roundabouts under Chandigarh MC to be redesigned

Chandigarh: After the success of a pilot project aimed at imporved road safety at chowks, all 20 major roundabouts under the Municipal Corporation will be re-designed and equipped with surveillance cameras.

According to the corporation, six of the roundabout have been redesigned and plans are afoot to redesign the remaining 14 big chowks. Several major chowks are with the UT Administration.

With the aim to lessen impact in case of road accidents, the MC has reduced the height of six roundabouts from nearly 2 ft to nine inches. Paver blocks have been put up on six-foot width around these roundabouts. Despite the new design, the geometry of the roundabouts has not been changed. Pavers around the chowks would ensure the safety of commuters, said officials.

Redesigning of the six chowks was carried out under a pilot project. According to MC officials, the redesigning work was being carried out on the recommendations of the Road Safety Council.

Besides, the civic body is also going to install CCTV cameras for an effective surveillance on all these junctions. The corporation has already put up surveillance cameras at 47 junctions. The remaining chowks will be equipped with such cameras under the redesigning work.

These cameras will be connected to the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) in Sector 17 for live surveillance. “Often, there are cases where drunk car drivers damage chowks and speed away. We will identify their registration numbers through these cameras and recover losses from them,” said an official.