On a couple of earlier occasions too, this column has raised the issue of the total unconcern exhibited by the planners and rulers of Delhi to the needs of the pedestrian. In fact, the lack of consideration for wheelchair users, the visually challenged and others with special requirements is just an extension of the callousness that is the norm in this city for anyone who is compelled to walk to and from work, school, the bazaar or anywhere for any reason.
A drive down four streets including, Ho Chi Minh Marg, August Kranti Marg, Lala Lajpat Rai Marg and finally the Lotus Temple Road was enough to show that no one cares.
Along Ho Chi Minh Marg, there is a bus stand as you climb down the IIT flyover towards Laxman Public School, next to the bus stand is a subway and then the Hauz Khas Metro Station located within spitting distance of the Panchsheel flyover. This entire stretch, running for a couple of hundred metres, is chock-a-block full of three-wheelers and the rogues known as the Grameen Sewa are constantly careening in and out of the area and blocking the entry to and exit from the bus stand for both commuters and buses and for the metro users trying to enter or leave the station.
This is a busy stop and the traffic that zips down the IIT flyover before zooming-up the Panchsheel flyover makes life very difficult for pedestrians. But one sees absolutely no sign of either a traffic constable or of the much talked about road marshals, resulting in pedestrians, including the physically and visually disabled, school kids and the elderly left to fend for themselves.
One wonders if this is the price that the less privileged citizens have to pay for being allowed to live in the Capital. Can’t anyone see that the Grameen Sewa vehicles blocking the carriage way on each side of the road have no right to be plying on this road, villages like Chiragh Dilli, Kalu Sarai, Zia Sarai, Ber Sarai, Munirka and Vasant Gaon located on this road do not need to be connected to a main arterial road because they are all located on a main artery of Delhi.
Turn onto August Kranti Marg. This road has Shahpur Jat (fast turning into a boutique village like the forever distorted Hauz Khas), Siri Fort, Anand Lok and the Ansal Mall on one side and RBI Colony, Mayfair Gardens, many institutional buildings, Gulmohar Park, Niti Bagh and Uday Park on the other. Try walking down this road and you will find huge piles of building material on the footpath in clear violation of several bye-laws. Entire stretches of the footpath, especially those abutting Gulmohar Park, Neeti Bagh and Uday Park, have been permanently converted into parking lots for those who live in the highly valued ‘corner plots’.
There is a rule in this city, unfortunately never enforced, which states that if you own a vehicle you need to park it on your own property and if you park it on public land, you are liable to be charged a fee. In fact, a few weeks ago a mild warning to this effect was issued, but it seems to have made little impact. Meanwhile, pedestrians continue to be pushed off the footpath onto the road, risking life and limb at every step, while humungous SUVs continue to be preened on pavements meant for those that have no option but to walk. Incidentally Gulmohar Park is a colony that has many senior journalists residing in it and Niti Bagh has many senior lawyers living inside its gated confines.
A continuation of the drive down Lala Lajpat Rai Marg, through the section connecting Kailash Colony to Nehru Place, revealed more of the same. In this area, it was mostly hotels and nursing homes that were indulging in blatant encroachment of footpaths. One of them, the Star Grand Villa, actually had a ‘No Parking’ sign installed prominently upon its boundary wall with four cars parked under the benign protective shadow of the sign. It was noticed along the drive both through August Kranti Marg and Lala Lajpat Rai Marg, that an innovative feature has been introduced into the design of the otherwise high pavements and this was the introduction of ramp-like slopes at regular intervals, in front or on the sides at street corners, as if to facilitate the movement of the cars onto the pavements. Now, this cannot happen without the active connivance of the agency responsible for the construction and upkeep of pavements.
We turned towards Nehru Place on outer Ring Road before turning towards the Lotus Temple Marg. The pavement here has been taken over permanently by those selling pooja material, one of them also sells rose water and aromatic herbs required while performing last rites, while a few have set up fully functional eating joints, fresh fruit juice and bottled water stalls on the footpath.
The footpath, meant for the pedestrian, and a site for continuous uprooting and upgrading is being used for everything aside from the purpose for which it is built. The pedestrian is constantly pushed on to the road, to be hit, injured and mowed down by onrushing traffic. Fifty per cent of those dying in traffic accidents in Delhi are pedestrians. Does anyone care?
