GIT flags engg flaw on NH-48 curve; NHAI urged to act soon | Hubballi News
Pic: The stretch on NH-48 between Pune and Bengaluru has been marked as a black spotBelagavi: Professors from KLS Gogte Institute of Technology (GIT), Belagavi, identified a critical engineering flaw in the construction of Pune-Bengaluru National Highway-48 at the Badekollamath curve, an accident-prone stretch located about 18km from the city. The curve has been the scene of 18 accidents in recent years and has been officially designated a black spot by police.Acting on a request from Belagavi City police commissioner Bhushan Borase, GIT conducted a technical survey of the spot. The findings, submitted to the police department, were forwarded to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for immediate corrective action.The survey, carried out by professors Archana Shagoti, Somanath Khot, and Kartik Kulkarni, revealed serious deficiencies in the road’s geometric design, especially at a descending curve. The team found that the curve’s radius is only 220 metres, which is below the 230-metre minimum recommended by the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) for areas with an 80 km/h speed limit.Additionally, the report points to a dangerous narrowing of the carriageway near an underpass — from 11.1 metres to just 9.5 metres — greatly increasing the risk of collisions. The GIT team also observed frequent overspeeding on the undulating terrain and poor lane discipline, further contributing to the high accident rate.While some safety measures like rumble strips and concrete crash barriers were already put in place, the professors found these interventions to be insufficient given the severity of the issue.Urgent recommendationsTo mitigate further accidents, the report recommends strict enforcement of a reduced speed limit of 65 km/h with clearly visible signage, installation of flashing warning lights at regular intervals, replacement of outdated guardrails with modern crash barriers, enhanced lane discipline through improved road markings, and deployment of smart surveillance cameras.Legal provisions for accountabilitySpeaking to TOI, police commissioner Bhushan Borase said the role of police is to identify accident-prone black spots and submit the report to the relevant authorities. “There is a Supreme Court-appointed high-power committee on road safety, which directs police to report such sites. If the authorities fail to rectify the problem, contractors can be held liable and blacklisted under Section 198(A) of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019,” he stated.Borase also noted that the curve sees a spike in accidents during the monsoon, underlining the urgency for infrastructural intervention.
