[anand.shankar]

Originally Posted by hex_guy

Shouldn't there be a scale with marked danger levels for every Underpass. This will give a fair indication for drivers about impeding danger ahead.

Originally Posted by ryzen7@5800u

My two cents in elaboration:
1- Early Warning: With the advent of reasonably precise weather forecasting, if a shower is predicted 30 minutes in the future, a simple LED/neon board with "ALERT" in Kannada and English can light up in amber.

2- Rain Sensing: When it does begin to rain, the same board now lights up in red, with a simple sentence over the PA (in English + Kannada) cautioning drivers of possible waterlogging in the underpass. This can be accompanied by flashing amber lights. This warning can be reset remotely.

3- Excess Flooding: A simple float valve, set at about 80 cm (experts can recommend a better setting) height can be used to activate a boom barrier + flashing red lights + "ALERT" board + PA announcements of flooding + if possible, turning traffic lights leading to the underpass red. This warning only deactivates if manually reset at the base of the underpass.

4- The Government can maybe work with Google/Apple/Tom-tom and other companies to warn users of blocked underpasses so that drivers can safely renavigate.

I don't think this would be too expensive or difficult to implement in a large scale, citywide. One LED/Neon Board + three traffic light fixtures + one speaker + a boom gate + a rain sensor + a simple float valve is all is needed.

What are you guys even talking about, you can find multiple underpasses that don't even have working bulbs to illuminate it. What you've suggested is all great ideas, but what about implementation? how long will it work before it breaks or vandals destroy it. Recently some thug uprooted a sign board for our layout that was newly installed, its lying on the street soon some scrap picker will make it disappear. There is no single authority that is responsible for our cities. Even in localities with strong RWAs the agencies pass the buck like a breeze. There is no accountability, no fear of reprimand or public anger nothing.

In this specific case, I believe the driver is to be blamed 100%, he did what an arrogant or impatient (or both) cabbie would do. How can one not realize the risk when the water level went over the bonnet line. Though our infra is pathetic, the blame of this death should go straight to the cabbie. Also, how did a Auto come to a stop and still manage to get out and not a Xylo ? Autos engine is much lower. Unless the occupants hesitated to abandon the car, I cant think how he ended up so deep.

[dust-n-bones]

Originally Posted by anand.shankar

In this specific case, I believe the driver is to be blamed 100%, he did what an arrogant or impatient (or both) cabbie would do.

Its hard to disagree here, the driver is the direct cause of the tragedy. The point I make is a little different.
While driving, we make lots of split second decisions, and it is likely a few of these somewhere will end up in tragedies. One big way to reduce these tragedies is by ensuring safety is built into the road infrastructure.

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

In my opinion, its a lot of finger pointing at authorities. Sure, we could have all this tech, but I am not sure what sensors and LEDs would ensure 100% safety. If anything, I would expect those to break down as rain, & dirt settles on these electronics. Then there are power failures every rainy season because of fallen trees, etc.

Originally Posted by anand.shankar

What are you guys even talking about, you can find multiple underpasses that don't even have working bulbs to illuminate it. What you've suggested is all great ideas, but what about implementation? how long will it work before it breaks or vandals destroy it. Recently some thug uprooted a sign board for our layout that was newly installed, its lying on the street soon some scrap picker will make it disappear. There is no single authority that is responsible for our cities. Even in localities with strong RWAs the agencies pass the buck like a breeze. There is no accountability, no fear of reprimand or public anger nothing.

Your objections are indeed very relevant. The suggestions were only a 30 second thought experiment as to the art-of-the-possible - only to show that if the infra planners are determined and accountable, they can make a big impact in reducing tragedies. Nothing - money, expertise or vandals really are serious hinderances if the tax paying public (you and me) in turn are determined to see that change.

And the irony. We are talking of such abysmal state of infrastructure within 1 km of Vidhan Soudha of 'Smart City Bangalore'. Whatever happened to that? And 'Silicon Valley Bangalore' can deploy million dollar IoT projects in cities of Europe and UAE and elsewhere, but there is no incentive to improve Namma Bengaluru.

[impala]

While there is likely an incorrect judgement on the part of the driver, that's how human brain works. He might have gone through several water logged roads, and might have made an incorrect judgement of the level or the speed at which water is rising; which is very difficult. Read this as confirmation bias.

Roads get water logged, even if it is by a few inches very very often in Bangalore, even with 15min of rain. We are not talking about under passes or pocket roads, but arterial roads and highways. If you wait for a fully visible road, you are probably taking a higher risk of water level rising further. Road/manholes caving-in in the middle of the road are very common in Bangalore, and anyone who is taking even road with an inch of water, is at a risk of running into such traps. There are often deep gutters on the side of the road that are traps too.

The problem the city is facing is complete lack of accountability. In my locality, roads were renewed last year with manholes dangerously jutting out of the road by 5-6 inches! A friends Ertiga had to get its body panel under the left door replaced as the man holes tore it. That manhole had to be at least 8 inches from the road! Many of these manholes are now settled mostly at the level of the road; talk about quality! Just these manholes that dot even arterial roads like HAL Airport - Varthur Road are just enough examples for me to say that the system has failed to ensure safety and life of consumers.

[arpan_spark]

Originally Posted by karanddd

Roads and infrastructure cannot be designed with the assumption that every person is a highly cautious driver all the time. That is not possible. An underpass that floods is simply not acceptable in any modern city. Either you build proper drainage, or shut the underpass. The fact that it regularly overfloods and the only thing done about that is the putting of barricades is absurd. If a part of our house flooded regularly, we would try to fix it, not put a barricade in front of it and forget about it.

Exactly. People blaming the driver, etc are just ignoring the huuuge elephant in the room!