Lutyens’ Delhi gets better-looking and stronger bollards
MAKEOVER Square, spherical, round bollards replace old ones; experts say safety, not beauty, should be paramount
NEW DELHI: In a departure from the usual Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) bollards with red bands across the city, Lutyens’ Delhi is now sporting something different.
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) finished installing 325 ‘granite stone’ bollards on various sidewalks this January. As opposed to the traditional cigarette-shaped bollards, the new bollards have been designed in three different styles: ‘squarestool’, ‘spherical’ and ‘round with a base’.
The grey and beige coloured bollards—used to regulate traffic, secure pedestrian paths and prevent encroachment—have been installed across Connaught Place, Race Course, Udyog Bhavan, Shivaji Stadium, Yashwant Place and the Central Secretariat Metro Station.
It cost the civic body about ₹40 lakh. The idea came from a visit to China by the then NDMC chairperson Naresh Kumar and a team of engineers in 2018, senior officials said.
“Our civil engineers and the then NDMC chairperson had visited China a few years ago as part of a ‘Twin City’ arrangement between Delhi and Beijing. There they saw these unique bollards on the roadsides of several cities, such as Shanghai and Wuhan. They were aesthetically pleasing and served various purposes,” a senior NDMC officer said, requesting anonymity.
“For example, as they have a larger surface area than the stump-style bollards, they allow seating and often become selfiepoints for visitors in picturesque areas. Besides, being constructed of granite, they are much stronger than RCC bollards that crumble easily if hit by a car, and need not be painted annually, saving several thousand rupees,” he said.
Another officer pointed out that besides being “damage- and vandal-proof,” these bollards are “theft-proof” as well. “We installed several stainless steel garden bollards in and around our parks, which sported LED lights on top. They were found hacked away many times. But these granite bollards weight over 200kg each; no one can take them away,” he said.
Experts like PK Sarkar, a retired professor from the School of Planning and architecture (SPA), however, said that civic bodies and road agencies “must not choose bollards based on beauty alone, but safety as well.”
“The RCC stump bollards are recommended by the Indian Road Congress (IRC) and backed by research specific to the conditions in this country. Besides, red and yellow retro-reflective tapes are pasted on the heads of these bollards, which make them visible at night as well,” Sarkar said.
“The round and square bollards cannot have those reflective tapes. NDMC officials must see how to solve that problem,” he said.