BMC to dismantle road shades after durability prod by citizen reporters

Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday announced that it will dismantle the temporary road shades built at important traffic junctions to provide relief to waiting commuters from the heat, after citizen reporters highlighted the structures were not durable and posed a safety risk.
The recent inclement weather brought by a nor'wester left several of the shades damaged, with their synthetic-cotton roofs being blown away and the bamboo structures crumbling.
Citizen reporter Shrestha Choudhury wrote that a structure at Kalinga Studio Chowk collapsed, leading to a major traffic jam. Another citizen reporter called the shades an eyesore and urged BMC to remove them, claiming the transparent roof can't block sun rays.
"The idea of having these sheds seems to be pretty bad. I reviewed the functioning of the sheds personally and called a meeting of the engineers to remove the structures as soon as possible," mayor Sulochana Das told TOI.
"Lives of commuters are extremely important. If something is detrimental to people instead of providing relief, then it shouldn't be carried out," the mayor added.
She said that last year, the idea of sun shades was successful as the height of the structures was considerably low and they withstood strong winds. "But this time we had to raise their height as double-decker buses were introduced in the city, and low height could have been a hindrance to the vehicles," the mayor further said.
BMC installed a total of 19 such structures at traffic junctions where the waiting time for a green signal is longer. Each structure cost BMC Rs 3 lakh, including maintenance costs from the day they were installed on April 1 to the day of removal (June 15). With BMC now removing the shades, maintenance costs will not have to be paid. It has already paid the cost of installation, which is a little over Rs 2 lakh per structure.
In a related development, the civic body has started constructing permanent sheds using a tensile fabric at AG Square at a cost of Rs 82.80 lakh. The sheds will be installed towards Capital Hospital and AG office, facing each other. The structures will be 9-ft high and 60-ft long.