Poor road infrastructure claiming pedestrians’ lives
pedestrians,” Kanumala added.
Road safety experts point out that Delhi has over 100 locations where pedestrians are susceptible to crashes due to the lack of any pedestrian infrastructure and effective enforcement of laws. They further asserted that the FoBs (foot overbridge) and underpasses in Delhi are either with faulty design or not located at the right place. Most of the subways constructed for pedestrian crossings are either closed or are encroached upon by drug peddlers, making them unsafe.
Experts further highlighted that none of the flyovers constructed in Delhi are pedestrian friendly as none of them have walkways, leaving no option for people but to walk.
“The entire road infrastructure that the Central government is focusing on is for motorists and pedestrians are at the mercy of the motorists. No SoP (Standard Operating Procedure) is be- ing followed to design pathways and foot overbridges), leaving pedestrians to either walk on busy roads or cross roads amid heavy motorised traffic. Pedestrians should get the highest amount of regard in terms of design of roads and legislation for pedestrians should be enforced upon with immediate effect. In developed countries, governments encourage people to walk, but the situation here is the opposite,” Rohit Baluja, director of The Institute of Road Traffic Education, Delhi, told The Sunday Guardian.
Dr. Kamal Soi, member of the National Road Safety Council, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, said, that in India, only 20% of the total population owns a private vehicle and rest of the people either use public transport or walk; yet there are no pedestrian-friendly roads in this country. He also pointed out that lack of enforcement of laws by the enforcing agencies is a primary reason why road accidents take place.
“Pedestrians are getting killed because there are no designated places for them to cross roads. They try to jump dividers, cross roads in the midst of busy and heavy traffic and many get crushed under the wheels. In developed countries, 30% of the travels are made by walking, but here there is no place to walk.”
Pointing out the faulty construction of foot overbridges Dr. Soi said, “In Delhi itself, foot overbridges are not constructed adequately and where they are supposed to be constructed. Many have no escalators, leaving no space for the elderly and the physically-disabled.”
Road safety experts have also pointed out towards the menace of encroachments of footpaths by vendors and hawkers across the country, leaving the pedestrians to walk on the carriageway.
In major market places in Delhi like in Lajpat Nagar, Karol Bagh, Rajouri Garden, Chandni Chowk, most of the footpaths are occupied by vendors, leaving little or no space for people to walk, forcing them to walk on roads.
“Pedestrian pathways have been encroached upon by vendors everywhere in the country, leaving no space to walk. The government also takes no action towards this,” Dr. Soi added.