PIL on blue-white street paint; The High Court tells Bengal government to respond
Telegraph | 2 March 2025
The high court on Friday asked the Bengal government to file an affidavit on a public interest litigation that has objected to the use of blue and white colours on kerbstones and guard rails on the city’s roads.
The bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Chaitali Chattopadhyay (Das) told the state to file its views within three weeks.
A petition, filed last week but first heard on Friday, has called the use of blue and white unscientific and contrary to the guidelines laid down by the Indian Roads Congress (IRC).
The IRC lays down norms on “the construction and maintenance of roads; bridges; tunnels and road transportation”.
The petitioner’s lawyer told the court that according to the IRC guidelines, kerbstones or guard rails should be coloured black and yellow as these were easier to spot from a distance.
On Friday, a lawyer for the petitioner blamed accidents on roads from the airport to central Calcutta, especially at night, because the sides are not painted following the IRC guidelines.
“The number of accidents on these roads, especially at night, has been increasing. The drivers cannot see the medians or the guard rails properly at night,” said the lawyer.
“The blue and white colours are not scientific.”
An engineer with the state public works department (PWD) said the paint on the median dividers, guard rails and kerbstones are meant to indicate to drivers the width of the road and where the road ends.
Kishore Datta, the state’s advocate general who was present in the courtroom on Friday, told the court that it was not mandatory to follow the IRC guidelines and that the government could substantiate its claim.
“It is not mandatory for the government to follow the IRC guidelines. The state government is ready to submit an affidavit to substantiate its claim,” Datta told the bench.
The division bench then directed the state to file its affidavit. It also said the petitioner would have to file a reply within a week after the state files its affidavit.
The matter will come up for hearing after five weeks.
The Trinamool Congress government started changing the colours of guard rails and kerbstones to blue and white after it came to power in 2011.
A state PWD engineer said all paints on roads, or the colours of the median dividers, kerbstones and guard rails, are supposed to be done as per guidelines laid down by the IRC.
There are specific guidelines for national highways, state highways and urban roads, said the engineer.