Malavika’s life changed 12 years ago when her husband had died of a heart attack. She had three daughters, the youngest one aged about two. On July 4 (Tuesday), the 36-year-old tailor’s rebuilt life came crashing down, less than 10 minutes after she put on her walking shoes, joined her friend Anuradha and her daughter Mamatha, and covered a few hundred metres from the house.
The 6 a.m. calm and breeze and their brisk walk were over in a matter of seconds when a red sedan at full pelt lost traction and swept them away from the rear. The trio, who was walking ahead to reach the footpath on the 40-feet Hydershakote Road, were dragged and flung till the car, a Honda Civic, plunged into a pit and a concrete pole stopped it.
The man behind the wheel was with his friends, without a driving licence, and with a fancy dagger to cut his 19th birthday cake at a farmhouse at Moinabad.
“The young woman was hurled towards the green-net gate of the Army compound, the other two in Punjabi dress fell on the footpath, immobile and without any response. Only Malavika survived after she was shifted to a hospital in a 108-vehicle,” first responder and head constable Narayana says.
On the same day, about 45 kms away on the city outskirts in Shadnagar, 12-year-old Jiya trudging back home from school, located at a 10-minute distance, was hit from behind by a speeding minor rider. She got four stitches from her left ear to the head.
“There was a lot of blood loss. CT Scan showed there is also an internal swelling and injury,” her father Rishipal Singh, a worker at a paper mill, says. “Beti pareshan lag rahi hain. Our life would have been shattered if something happened to her,” Mr. Singh from Ghaziabad, who made Hyderabad his home 14 years ago, says.
Jiya is among the 57% children in Hyderabad who walk to school, according to a study done by UK-based BMC Public Health in 2016.
Hyderabad roads | Short shrift to pedestrians
A city in a hurry
As the ribbons of concrete and asphalt have become wider and longer in Hyderabad, the speed of vehicles has gone up on all stretches. But the focus on cars is not matched with that of more numerous users – pedestrians. Everyday, 33 lakh RTC commuters use it, nearly 3 lakh Metro passengers use it, as do lakhs of travellers who use the Kachiguda, Secunderabad and Hyderabad railway stations for their journeys. But these pedestrians don’t find space in the plans for the city with global ambition.
Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development K.T. Rama Rao visualises Hyderabad to be among the Top 25 global cities by 2050. He is the driver of the rapid urbanisation of the State, which is now pegged at 47.6% up from 39% a decade ago.
Releasing a 10-year report along with next year’s action plan, Mr. Rama Rao said the government is committed to sustainable urban development through citizen participation. About ₹1.22 lakh crore was invested for improvement of civic infrastructure such as drinking water, sewerage network, roads, solid waste management and urban transport in Hyderabad.
The transport infrastructure, Strategic Road Development Programme (SRDP) for 42 projects of five vehicle underpasses, six road over bridges, 28 flyovers, among others, Comprehensive Road Management Programme (CRMP) of 809 kms and Missing Link Road Project of 191 kms, together were at an outlay of over ₹10,000 crore.
Surprisingly, in the 216-page report titled “Telangana Driving Growth Through Urbanisation” the word ‘pedestrian’ occurs 12 times. And footpath? Six times.
Highlights
- 602 pedestrians lost their lives in Hyderabad between 2017 and 2019. More than half of them were hit by vehicles while crossing the road. And at least one pedestrian lost life every other day in 2019. In 2021, 94 pedestrians died and in 2022, 110 pedestrians were killed in Hyderabad.
- The transport infrastructure, SRDP for 42 projects of five vehicle underpasses, six road over bridges, 28 flyovers, among other, CRMP of 809 kms and Missing Link Road Project of 191 kms, together were at an outlay of over ₹10, 000 crore.
- 31 new pelican signals under the Safe City Project, 71 signboards at pedestrian islands, marking of zebra crossings/stop lines in coordination with GHMC, banners outside all the 56 metro stations asking pedestrians to use foot-over bridges, the traffic authority said it will strive to make Hyderabad a pedestrian-friendly city.
- Unscientifically installing U turns, midblock crossings, standalone signals, and partial integration of Hyderabad Traffic Integrated Management System, leaves zero priority for pedestrians – all against the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) specifications, says the expert.
Walking and cycling finds mention under ‘Non-motorised road infrastructure’, alongside the solar rooftop bicycle track on the Nehru ORR feature – 4.5-metre wide, 23-km long and three lanes – an inspiration from Sejong Special Self-Governing City, South Korea.
Pedestrian injuries and deaths do not find space in the police annual reports of Rachakonda and Cyberabad commissionerates, which control Hyderabad’s east (5,100 sq. kms) and west (3,680 sq. kms) geographies. Under Hyderabad City Police 2022 alone, 110 pedestrians were killed, and 616 pedestrians sustained injuries.
The Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2021 report by the National Crime Records Bureau, released October last year, shows that Hyderabad witnessed the most pedestrian injuries (590) in the country. Bengaluru was second (576). Hyderabad and Visakhaptanam in AP stood seventh with 94 dead pedestrians on each side.
Faster, faster, faster
While the Telangana State government order of May 2022 notified the speed limit for cars on road with dividers as 60 kmph and bikes in colony roads as 30 kmph, in both the accidents, the police estimated their speed to be about double the limit or more.
And summarily, Malavika and Jiya will be a number in the ‘pedestrian injured’ column of the crime data later next year, and Anuradha and Mamatha, the mother-daughter duo, will neighbour them in the ‘pedestrian died’ column.
The Footpath Initiative, a Bengaluru-based project which backs its pedestrian safety study with data, made the best of the COVID-19 lockdown, used the Right to Information applications and achieved a clearer picture.
“602 pedestrians lost their lives in Hyderabad between 2017 and 2019. More than half of them were hit by vehicles while crossing the road. And at least one pedestrian lost life every other day in 2019.”
The 20-km stretch around Miyapur Metro in IT hub Cyberabad was least safe with 65 fatal crashes. The Charminar zone was particularly dangerous for pedestrian use, the findings mapped.
It is teatime at the Vivekananda Hospital’s canteen on Greenlands Road, Begumpet – the only quick-bite on the small concrete island, next to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s camp office. The 10-second Honda Civic visuals had already been viral.
“Baap re! Don’t show again,” screamed a young lady, a banker from a nearby building visibly from her identification tag, in her group. “Overspeeding, sand on that road, drunk boys,” they talked, before crossing the busy road to get back to their office.
Where are the footpaths?
According to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the city has a road network of about 9,100 kms. The footpath network, as per mandatory requirement for four lane roads, is about 800 kms.
“But where are they, how are they? Can pedestrians walk safely along the road in a way of at least three-metres width, 150 mm height, or cross the road safely at designated signals without tension or fear?” wonders Kanthimathi Kannan of the Right to Walk Foundation. Obstructions, including by the government, trees, urinals, makeshift ramps and vehicle parking, hawkers, commercial businesses, and police property, all push the pedestrian on to the road.
Failing the sari test
“A true test for Hyderabad footpath condition will be a ‘sari test’. Make a few young girls wearing sari cross the road independently without any help. Are older women in saris able to walk/cross without any discomfort?” says Ms. Kannan, known as ‘Hyderabad’s footpath lady’.
She quotes from her 13-year-old powerpoint presentation and her TEDx talk: “Those who walk cannot decide and those who decide do not walk”.
Retired professor at Centre for Economic and Social Studies C. Ramachandraiah asks the same question as ‘the footpath lady’: “But where are the footpaths? How are they, walkable or roads crossable?”
“SRDP spends thousands of crores to make commutes traffic and signal-free. Where do State Transport Corporation buses ply or stop? This is encouragement for more private vehicles, an environmentally unsustainable model,” says Mr. Ramachandraiah. A longtime user of the busy Greenlands Road, he also remembers how pedestrians are dangerously made to ‘toe the line’.
Soon after KCR became the Chief Minister in 2014, the high metal barricade outside the CM’s camp office (now Pragati Bhavan) which had been there for a few years was removed.
“It was impressive, it was thought KCR was a better administrator than YSR, he valued pedestrians. But in no time, the grill grew in all dimensions – bigger and stronger – pushing pedestrians to walk on the edge line adjoining the installation in the traffic,” says Mr. Ramachandraiah.
Nine years later, the security personnel not only own the cordon, but took the length of the barriered sidewalk on the right that now has a small gate. Chairs, a table, a water drum, an air cooler, parked motorcycles and an Indian flag affixed above the main chair present an informal work and rest space.
The trauma of families remains
Shiva, an office assistant at Punjagutta, is particularly wary when it comes to walking/crossing the road. Losing his 60-year-old mother, an India Post employee, who was crossing a road at Patancheru in 2015, he believes pedestrians are at everyone’s mercy.
Near his home, Patancheru, 25 kms away, in Cyberabad on the NH-65 (Mumbai Highway), “Speeding buses, trucks and cars won’t stop even if they run over a person. Only sometimes CCTVs would help,” says Shiva, who is waiting to receive his mother’s accident insurance proceeds.
But amid all the clamour for pedestrians, KCR’s security cordon in the heart of the city may be a small villain. The bigger culprit that inconveniences vehicle users and pedestrians, eats up time and resources, and even takes lives, is bad road engineering, experts say.
“A true test for Hyderabad footpath condition will be a ‘sari test’. Make a few young girls wear sari cross the road independently without any help. ”Kanthimathi Kannan,Right to Walk Foundation.
U-turns, replacing intersections across the city, is not a scientific idea, studies conducted in Hyderabad by the Department of Civil Engineering at Osmania University show.
“Hyderabad’s passenger car unit per hour per lane (PCU=one car unit or motorcycle= 0.5 car unit) of about 1,200 is normal, but our peak hour PCU is 6,000 and up to 10,000 sometimes. And, where is the right of way in our narrow roads?” says Prof. R. Srinivasa Kumar.
Specific to Hyderabad, he points out that priority for Metro Rail pillar alignment created sight distance (length of roadway visible to a driver) problems, whether at intersection, passing or stopping. Use of square columns, instead of round ones, has affected turning radius.
And priority to move traffic by the traffic authority, unscientifically installing U turns, midblock crossings, standalone signals, and partial integration of Hyderabad Traffic Integrated Management System, leaves zero priority for pedestrians – all against the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) specifications, says the expert.
“Like a vehicle that is caught between two close signals or at a U-turn, a pedestrian is always at a risk of facing a flood of vehicles,” he says.
Failed road engineering
Author of Pavement Evaluation, Maintenance and Management System, and a member of the four-member committee to evaluate the sensational Biodiversity Flyover accident in 2019, Prof. R. Srinivasa Kumar says GHMC was also at fault. A red Volkswagen Polo at 104 kmph fell off the flyover and crushed a pedestrian and injured three.
“As per IRC SP 088, Biodiversity flyover’s five-stage road safety audit by an independent agency – at design and approval of final design, during construction at day/night, finalisation, before permitting traffic and after a year – was not done. GHMC entrusted the audit to a consultant which did only one stage and approved it.”
Alleged bad road engineering by GHMC, Hyderabad’s road maintenance authority, is clear again in the Honda Civic accident – and this time sand deposit on the road is evidence.
Prof. Srinivas Kumar quickly draws two curved lines, three small circles and a car figure on a brown envelope on his table and decodes the accident.
“One, there is no hesitation that the driver is at high speed. Two, he does not have a driving licence. But three, why is the sand there on that road? The boy applied full brakes and locked his wheels, the car was supposed to stop, but it moved like a roller. Technically, he did not ram them intentionally, the vehicle skid. The right word is super elevation.”
According to IRC, super elevation, the transverse slope to counteract centrifugal force which tends to pull out the vehicle in outward direction and to reduce the tendency of the vehicle to skid, for urban road is 4% and plain and rolling terrain is 7%.
“The Honda Civic skid for lack of adequate super elevation. The sand would drain off if there was sufficient super elevation. Also, the road shoulders are not maintained properly,” the professor says.
The Hyderabad Traffic Police, coincidentally timed with The Hindu queries on pedestrian safety, in a first in the recent times released a note and said pedestrian safety was a paramount concern.
With 31 new pelican signals under the Safe City Project, 71 signboards at pedestrian islands, marking of zebra crossings/stop lines in coordination with GHMC, a record clearing of footpath encroachment in the year, banners outside all the 56 metro stations asking pedestrians to use foot-over bridges to cross the roads, a request to avoid jaywalking, and utilising the services of traffic cops at junctions, the traffic authority said it will strive to make Hyderabad a pedestrian-friendly city.
Meanwhile, unable to afford medical costs, Malavika, with her broken bones, flesh wounds and contusions, was shifted to her brother Srikanth’s house at Patancheru for rest. She is being taken care of by her sister-in-law and the three daughters. “She is silent and emotionally blank. She does not know that Anuradha and Mamatha are no more,” Srikanth says.
