The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has been asked by the city police to re-introduce conventional, high-visibility colour scheme of white, black and yellow for road dividers and kerbs, as the new colour scheme of saffron and green had led to a rise in accidents.
The police has requested the civic body to shun the saffron and green combination whose introduction, last year, had triggered a hue and cry. The saffron-green scheme can now be seen on almost all the road dividers and kerbs in Lutyens’ Delhi areas like Ashoka Road, Parliament Street, Rajiv Chowk (Connaught Place), Indira Chowk (Connaught Circus), Jantar Mantar and also on R.K. Ashram Marg and Ferozeshah Road.
The colour combination used earlier was black-and-white or black-and-yellow. The police stressed that the new colour scheme in areas under the NDMC jurisdiction had led to a rise in the number of accidents as it is not so prominently visible.
“We had written a letter earlier and, recently, I personally met the new NDMC chairperson, Naresh Kumar, and requested them to review the colour scheme. He has assured us that he will look into the matter. We hope for a positive response soon,” special commissioner of police (traffic) Muktesh Chander said.
The move, which was termed an “aesthetic initiative” by the civic body, was criticised for not considering vehicular safety in a city where visibility becomes a huge challenge, especially on foggy winter days.
Traffic officials claimed they had objected to the change in the colour scheme as the purpose of the paint should be to reflect light and make the dividers visible.
The NDMC had thereafter used reflector strips which, however, did not serve the purpose as they started coming off after a few days.
The civic agency is now using reflective and thermoplastic paint in carrying out the change in the colour scheme, especially for the road turnings.
