‘Traffic islands’ not used as per norms, says study
NEW DELHI: At least 75% of Delhi’s pedestrian facilities do not follow international standards of road safety, according to a survey by independent researchers which found that spaces meant for pedestrians were either encroached by people to feed birds or by the authorities to plant trees and place other obstructive installations.
The researchers, who are alumni from Iit-bombay, School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) and Iit-kanpur, studied 60 traffic refuge islands in Delhi and NCR towns. They found that 57 of them were not safe for pedestrians.
Traffic refuge islands are large platforms constructed at big intersections where pedestrians do not get enough time to cross over to the other side while the signal is green for them. The islands provide a safe space for pedestrians as they wait between carriageways for the traffic to clear.
To be sure, in 2019, nearly 46% of the total 1,463 road accident deaths in Delhi were that of pedestrians, according to data provided by Delhi traffic police. There are over 10 million registered vehicles in Delhi.
“These spaces are made in a triangular pattern so that it can hold maximum number of pedestrians. If you look at international standards of road safety, road owning agencies are not permitted to use any space. But here, we have found that these open spaces have been wrongly used for road beautification,” said Sumukhi Surendran, an independent researcher who works on traffic and road safety issues and led the survey in Delhi.
The researchers studied pedestrian infrastructure in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad between October 15 and December 31.
The survey found that at least 12 traffic refuge islands in central
Delhi were beautified with saplings, statues or other installations, leaving little space for pedestrians to wait while the traffic signal was green for the vehicles.
The safety report also found that in cases where the traffic islands were not encroached, the space was being used by local residents to feed birds and street animals.
Globally, the urban design guidelines mandate that every large intersection where the time taken by pedestrians to take a complete round of the intersection is greater than three minutes, requires agencies to have refuge islands.
These islands are meant to hold maximum number of pedestrians safe from the fast moving traffic. For instance, in China’s Beijing these traffic refuge islands have slopes so that pedestrians standing on the traffic island don’t face the risk of suddenly falling onto the moving traffic.
In Delhi, traffic refuge islands in areas such Govindpuri, Nehru Place, CR Park and Connaught Place were found “unfit for use” because grains and bits of food was laid out for birds.
Also, 32 of 50 road dividers and 12 out of 25 zebra crossings in Delhi were found in violation of the international road safety norms.
“Large trees were planted on dividers in areas near Dilshad Garden, Vivek Vihar, Uttam
Nagar, Greater Kailash and Jasola Vihar...which were turning out to be safety hazards for pedestrians and motorists as it blocked the view of the incoming traffic and signals. Zebra crossing in many areas was ending in Metro pillars or encroachments,” the report read.
The report highlights that when a pedestrian is crossing the road, the view of the traffic signal and the incoming traffic should be clearly visible to them.
“No installation or plantation should be made over or around the traffic signal. While planting saplings on the road dividers, the agencies must ensure that the canopies of the trees, once it attains the adult age, should not block the view of incoming traffic,” the report read.
Maximum of these problems were found on roads under the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC). The civic body did not respond to repeated requests for a comment on the matter. The Public Works Department which also maintains large stretches of roads also refused to comment on the findings of the study.
Delhi traffic police said it conducted a similar survey in 2014, listing out inaccessible pedestrian facilities and conducted a series of meetings with road maintaining agencies asking them to fix the faults.
“We conduct regular meetings with local authorities to ensure that public spaces remain accessible to commuters, especially pedestrians. If trees are not pruned and posters are found blocking the view of traffic signals, such information is also shared with the civic agencies,” the traffic police said in a text response.
Raghu Shaurya, a resident of south Delhi’s CR Park, who has been wheelchair-bound for over a decade, said even in upscale neighbourhoods of the city, the public facilities are not designed for people.
“Road dividers and footpaths here are so high that even a normal healthy person will find it difficult to access it. Their solution for everything is to create footover bridges. Why should those on foot risk their lives and sweat extra only so that the cars can zoom faster? Every developed economy is now moving towards developing facilities that put pedestrians first,” Shaurya.
Experts also agree that civic agencies need a better understanding of safe urban designs.
“The problem is that there are so many agencies and even within an agency there are several departments that have little coordination among them. Aesthetics are important but so is the purpose of traffic refuge islands, zebra crossings and dividers. You cannot in the name of beautification defeat the whole purpose of a public facility. Experts need to be more actively roped in by the civic and road owning authorities before making such decisions,” said Sewa Ram, from School of Planning and Architecture.
Gurugram-based urban design and infrastructure expert Khushbu Prasad said a thorough audit of road infrastructure and public spaces should be conducted. “In 2012, when the Delhi Metro construction was on, we conducted a survey for the Delhi government and found that many zebra crossings were ending with Metro pillars. Our public spaces are designed only for cars, pedestrians feature way down in the hierarchy,” said Prasad.
NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s daughter was allegedly a victim of fraud by a man who posed as a buyer on an e-commerce platform where she had put up a sofa on sale, police said. An FIR has been registered at the Civil Lines police station on Sunday after a complaint was filed in the matter, they said.
According to the police, Harshita Kejriwal put up a sofa for sale on an e-commerce platform. She was approached by a man who said he wanted to buy the product. To check if the account details she shared were correct, he initially transferred a small sum into her account.
The man sent her two QR codes, upon scanning ₹34,000 was deducted from her account, police said.
The Gautam Budh Nagar district on Monday saw its first cadaver donation to any government institute, with doctors calling it a “momentous” occasion. Ram Khiloni Agarwal, a 72-year-old retired irrigation engineer from Sikandrabad district who died at a private hospital in Noida on February 5, wished his body be donated for medical purposes.
Agarwal’s cadaver – called the first teacher for medical students – was brought to the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS), Greater Noida, from his residence in a hearse van following rituals held by the family, doctors said.
“It is the first ever cadaver that we received through donation, and it will help our first year MBBS students to understand the human body and give a hands-on experience of anatomy,” said Dr RK Gupta, director, Government Institute of Medical Sciences, Greater Noida.
The doctors said that the body will be embalmed and preserved for five years.
According to Dr Ranjana Verma, head, anatomy department at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences, the cadaver was received through an NGO , with which the donor had pledged to give his body for science.
“There is a shortage of cadaver and we often receive it from other medical institutes like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences that helps the new medical institutes. This is the first time that we have received through donation. It is a momentous for our college,” said Verma.
She said that though GIMS is not able to maintain the cadaver to student ratio which is four cadaver for 100 students, more awareness is required to encourage people to take such pledge.
On Monday, upon receiving the cadaver, the students of the GIMS expressed their gratitude to the family through writings and letters, the doctors said.
“Due to traditions of different cultures, it is often difficult for people to take such a pledge to donate their bodies for such a higher purpose. Though people are coming forward,” Verma said, adding that GIMS will soon start pledge forms for cadaver donation.
“We will upload body donation form and information regarding body donation on GIMS website in near future,” said Verma.