Experiment will work, look at other cities: Experts’ message for traders

NEW DELHI: While traders oppose the move to make Connaught Place (CP) car free, experts question their counter with examples of places where the idea worked.

The three-month pilot project to make CP’s inner and middle circles “pedestrian only” will start from February.

Union urban development ministry is carrying out the project, to study traffic flow and parking issues, along with New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Traffic Police.

While Shimla, Puducherry and Gangtok are a few examples in India, Camden Street in London, Boulevard Saint Laurent in Canada’s Montreal and central district of Copenhagen, the Danish capital, are global examples.

Anumita Roychowdhury of Centre for Science and Environment said,“The plan is about transforming our public spaces to improve quality of life in our city, ensuring our recreations do not get grossly limited to oxygenchallenged unhealthy confines of glitzy malls.”

NDMC plans to develop the open spaces with a water body to act as humidifier in the walking zone, a water curtain, light and sound laser shows, sidewalk cafes and public plazas .

“Imagine the attraction of open public spaces with aesthetic landscaping…that is unhindered by automated wheels, honking and toxic killer fumes. These high footfall areas will draw even bigger crowd which means more business. Pedestrian zones in other cities have proven this,” she said.

However, the process isn’t easy. The Lijnbaan market in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, also successfully implemented pedestrianisation. However, it was done in 1953 when depend- ence on vehicles was not as much, after a year-long trial. The area has an underground light rail transit system (LRT) which helps shoppers reach it easily.

From the more recent examples, it took the authorities five years to convince people to make the United States’ Times Square a vehicle-free zone.

“In every city where this idea was implemented, traders and shopkeepers have initially resisted it. But they have come around later,” said a senior NDMC official.

Meanwhile, CP traders plan to meet Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi and NDMC chairman Naresh Kumar to voice their objections.

“Closing vehicular movement in inner and middle circles will choke outer circle even more,” New Delhi Traders Association president, Atul Bhargava, had earlier said.

GLOBAL EXAMPLES

Germany created a pedestrianised street in Essen city in 1929. By 1955, over 20 German cities had pedestrian-only areas

Many US cities have ‘pedestrian only’ streets. Since 2009, Times Square is blocked off for cars