Gurgaon civic body installs reflectors to reduce accidents

In an effort to prevent road accidents that occur because of low visibility caused primarily by fog, the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) has started installing delineator reflectors on streets, dividers and turning points across the city.

MCG contractors could be seen installing the reflectors at stretches such as Jharsa Road, Rajiv Chowk to Sohna road, and parts of Old Gurgaon on Thursday.

“The civic body had prepared a list of accident-prone sites. Delineator reflectors have been installed in those areas in which incidents of vehicles crashing into road dividers, trees or benches were high. Initially, these will be installed at major accident-prone sites and will then be replicated across the city in phases,” MCG additional commissioner Amit Khatri said.

The reflectors are expected to help drivers notice dividers from a distance and take evasive action if necessary. White lines will also be painted on roads for better illumination and identification of lanes, an MCG official said.

Apart from installing reflectors, the civic body in consultation with traffic police, is looking to add reflective tapes, pelican lights, and LED traffic lights to avoid mishaps caused by poor visibility on roads.

The traffic department had written to the MCG and the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) in 2012 asking them to install reflectors as road safety measures. However, the project failed to materialise.

As per official data of traffic police, last year, 490 people died in accidents. The number of deaths was 487 in 2013, and 430 in 2014. On an average over 1,000 accidents take place annually.