A view of the Andhra Pradesh High Court File photo
| Photo Credit: V RAJU
The Andhra Pradesh High Court (HC) directed the State of Andhra Pradesh (A.P.), represented by Chief Secretary, A.P. Road Development Corporation (A.P.-RDC), Municipal Administration and PR & RD Departments and the Director General of Police, to strictly adhere to the guidelines laid down by the Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Indian Road Congress (IRC) on the construction of speed-breakers.
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The judges ordered the respondents to ensure that the existing speed-breakers are brought in conformity to the latest guidelines and new speed-breakers are also constructed accordingly.
They were hearing a PIL filed by advocate Thandava Yogesh, who argued that the guidelines prescribed by the IRC for constructing speed-breakers are not being followed, moreover, there are a large number of illegal speed-breakers. As per the extant specifications, the speed-breakers should be of 3.70 metres width and 10 centimetres height with bumps of 17 centimeter radius.
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He contended that no action has been taken even after the Chief Engineer (R&B – State Highways) & Managing Director of APRDC filed a memo in February apprising the court that all the Superintending Engineers, Executive Engineers and others were instructed to identify and remove the illegal speed-breakers on all State Highways, major district roads and other district roads and to remove the defective speed-breakers or rectify them to the IRC standards.
Mr. Yogesh had also appealed to the court to order that the speed-breakers should be built with white and yellow reflective paint to enhance visibility, especially at night, and that signage boards be put up 40 metres ahead (of the speed-breakers) for the sake of safety.
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The petitioner noted that numerous studies revealed that speed-breakers not only cause accidents but also lead to serious damages such as compression of the spinal cord and vertebrae, disk-prolapse, neck pain, slip-disk, spine injuries and back pain if they are not constructed scientifically.
Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Ravi Cheemalapati noted on their order that the special government pleader S. Pranathi submitted to the court that there have been some changes in the relevant IRC guidelines and the same would be placed on record.
Published – August 17, 2025 12:54 pm IST
