SHIVANI SINGH

In the early 1940s, Delhi had such a small number of cars that “we could tell who owned which just by looking at the number plate,” an octogenarian trader from Connaught Place told me in an interview for an article on New Delhi’s 100 years. That idyllic Delhi is, of course, a sepia-tinted picture on the wall now.

This New Year’s Day, it took drivers an hour to get past Connaught Place, now Delhi’s busiest retail hub. This was not a one-off traffic snarl. The national capital is in the midst of a mobility crisis. With nearly 10 million vehicles fighting for road space in Delhi, travelling time has doubled in the last six years and the traffic speed during peak hours has been cut by half.

According to a recent study, traffic in Delhi may well be crawling at 5 kmph — the average human walking speed — in the next 10 years. So, restricting movement of vehicles is not an option the administration could have procrastinated on for long. Last week, it finally decided to ban vehicles from the inner and middle circles of Connaught Place for a three-month trial.

The retailers have opposed the move fearing a fall in business. Who would walk to Connaught Place in Delhi’s long and blazing summer? Why would people not flock to malls where cars are allowed? Wouldn’t a ban on vehicles in the middle circle increase traffic in the outer circle and the adjoining arterials? Will the government ensure enough parking outside CP where people can leave their cars safely and walk to the pedestrian zone? Will there be enough park-and-ride available?

These apprehensions are not unwarranted. But as successful examples of pedestrianisation across the world have shown, there is no gain without pain, and proper planning can minimise pain.