THE city saw a usual spectacle of  heavily loaded trucks crashing into height-barriers at the Gowari Flyover on two consecutive days when the new infrastructure was put in place. The Day One saw a truck crashing into the newly-installed height-barrier at the southern end. The Day Two saw another truck crashing into the  height-barriers installed just a day  earlier. Both those crashes led to  terrible traffic jams and inconvenience to the road-using public.

However, the issue does not relate  or restricted only to height-barriers -- which we, as a city, have failed to understand over decades. How
unfortunate !

The issue actually relates to a bad urban design -- bad in many ways -- which needs to be pondered over: Originally, the Gowari Flyover was not designed for heavy traffic; so its usage by trucks or buses etc was not allowed right from start.
When the structure was being planned, ‘The Hitavada’ had insisted that the flyover needed to be made good enough even for heavy traffic since it would be nearly impossible

for the Police to keep a close track of the heavy vehicles making use of the infrastructure.
Another flaw in the Gowari  Flyover was that it was designed as a three-lane passageway. At that time, ‘The Hitavada’ had insisted that it be made for a four-lane usage. The authorities -- for inexplicable reasons -- had ruled out those suggestions.
However, over time, it has been proved on ample occasions that the flyover should have had a four-lane passageway and it should have been designed even for heavy traffic.

There also is yet another issue to be taken care of -- the passage of truck through the city. For, the principle is that a round-city-ring-road is to be used for heavy traffic. How are the trucks allowed into the city?
Of course, the loosefooter is  conscious of the argument the City Police would offer in their defence -- that truck are allowed only during afterhours. This point is acceptable to an extent. But then, the question extends deeper: If the trucks are allowed through the city during  afterhours (suggesting that the cops control that movement), then why  are they not restricted form using the flyover that is not designed for heavy traffic?

Thus, the issue has multiple angles that need to be considered in a far more serious manner than what we -- as a city -- have done so far. The  question is not just about  height-barriers. The question is about how deeply we think about the routine management dimensions of our city.