[sustran] Pune's 55% walkers have minimum facilities on road

[Vinay Baindur]

Pune's 55% walkers have minimum facilities on road Radheshyam Jadhav, TNN,
May 10, 2010, 05.58am IST
   PUNE: Senior citizen H M Harlankar has developed a fear for crossing
roads. "Busy chowks like Appa Balwant chowk in Budhwar Peth have footpaths
overrun with hawkers. The roads are so busy with speeding vehicles that I am
afraid for my life," Harlankar said.

Sameer Dighe waited for 15 minutes on Fergusson College Road watching two
children trying to cross. "They would walk half the distance, then retreat
because of the speeding vehicles. They had to dodge not only the oncoming
vehicles, but also those that zoomed in the wrong direction," he said.

Pune is increasingly becoming a pedestrian-unfriendly city even though 37
per cent of the people walk to their destinations while 18 per cent use the
cycle. But this 55 per cent non-motorised transport is among the most
ignored in traffic planning and at risk because they have to share the same
right of way with the motorised modes.

This grim picture, reflecting callousness for pedestrians and cyclists, has
been put forth in the concept note for a Comprehensive Transport Policy
(CTP) for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). "Pedestrians are the most
important component in traffic and transportation and one that is, sadly,
the most ignored," the concept note said.

"Today, roads are laid out, designed and built, all with an automobile (or
two-wheeler) in mind. Not enough consideration is given to other users like
pedestrians, cyclists and public transport. Heritage sites and open spaces
are increasingly being sacrificed to accommodate the needs of private
auto-vehicles," it added.

The hazards of walking in Pune is a direct impact of the growth of the
vehicular population that has outdone Delhi's. "The city may have lesser
number of vehicles, but the vehicular growth rate has exceeded Delhi's, an
ugly sign of growing congestion. As cars and two-wheelers begin to jostle
for more road space and use up public space for parking, the city will
become less walkable. In fact, studies show that in Pune more than 55 per
cent of the roads are being utilised for on-street parking. Much of the
pavements have been encroached upon making walking even more difficult,"
said Anumita Roychowdhury of the Delhi-based Centre for Science and
Environment (CSE).

According to her, Pune has enormous opportunity to become more walkable and
increase the share of daily walk trips. "Pune will have to protect and build
on short trip lengths since the average trip distance is still about six km.
The shorter trips can be converted to walk and bicycle trips that will
require a well-designed and integrated pedestrian infrastructure. It will
need a change in policy. Only a walkable city with good public transport can
combat growing pollution and congestion and make the city liveable,"
Roychowdhury said.

The CTP note says that 40 per cent of all major roads in the city have no
footpaths and where they are present there is low use. "Footpaths must give
pedestrians a continuos, convenient and comfortable walkway. They must be
adequately wide, continually navigable with no or minimal breaks and free of
obstructions. In their absence, pedestrians tend to use the carriageways,
endangering themselves and impeding the flow of traffic," the note added.

The CSE's findings on how walkable are our cities do not tilt the balance in
the pedestrians' favour. The centre found that in most Indian cities,
walkers outnumber those using vehicles. "Yet, walkers remain invisible in
the maze of motorised traffic that chokes our roads. Pedestrians walk in
extremely unsafe and hostile conditions, in constant conflict with motorised
traffic and are easy victims to crashes and accidents. Countless people trip
over potholes, slip on sludge, or are grievously hurt by bumping into
numerous obstacles strewn along the footpaths. There is continuous erosion
of space for walkers even though every journey begins and ends with a
walking trip. Our civic authorities have little respect for them." the
findings said.

This applies to Pune as well. Pedestrians often face obstacles on footpaths.
Reading kiosks, party offices and halls have come up at public places like
gardens, footpaths and even inside housing societies, with backing from
political outfits.

On the other hand, the PMC is investing crores of rupees in elevated roads,
road widening and flyovers disrupting the most direct route for walking, and
pushing people to use foot overbridges, skywalks or to underground passes.

"Pune lacks proper footpaths, zebra markings, pedestrian railings and
signals. In fact, pedestrians are not in the picture when the civic body and
the police plan traffic and transportation," said Vijay Kumbhar of Surajya
Sangharsh Samiti.


How to make walking viable

Walkability reflects the quality of walking facilities and conditions that
make walking safe, comfortable and convenient.
Pedestrian facilities include sidewalks, paths, crosswalks, stairways, curb
cuts, ramps and transit stops.

They should be well-designed and connected to help pedestrians to take the
shortest direct route to destinations safely.

However, walkers are ignored as is evident from the state of footpaths being
narrowed to provide more space for carriageways.

Huge investments made in roads, and elevated roadways have not helped to
solve the congestion problem.

Delhi has more than 20 per cent of land under roads which are being widened
and flyovers are being built. Yet the city is gridlocked.

( Source-- Centre for Science and Environment)

Think fast, act quick

It is imperative to ensure that the road design does not increase dependence
on and usage of personal vehicles. The policy focus must shift to public
transport, walking and cycling.

The government should mandate pedestrian plans and make it conditional to
infrastructure funding. City development plans under JNNURM should have
pedestrianisation' and funding linked with it.

Immediately reform engineering and environmental guidelines for walkways and
make their implementation mandatory. Ensure these guidelines are
incorporated by all road building agencies.

Harmonise existing laws for effective implementation. While relevant laws
will have to be harmonised it will have to be combined with more direct
legal protection of pedestrian space and rights.

A road users' act for pedestrianisation that will have segregation of space,
penalty for encroachment on pedestrian space, prevent usurping of pedestrian
space for motorised traffic without justification.

Urban local bodies must implement walkability audits of pedestrian ways,
public transport plans must include pedestrians' plan for multimodal
integration and zero tolerance policy for accidents

The programme for small and medium towns under the aegis of the Union
ministry of urban development should make the pedestrian plan mandatory.

(Source -- Centre for Science and Environment)





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Story -2

Zagade to check encroachment drive



Radheshyam Jadhav

Pune: A tour of the city from May 17 to ensure action against encroachments
is what municipal commissioner Mahesh Zagade has in mind.

Zagade, in his order signed December 30, 2009 and issued to all civic
departments the next day, had slammed officials for their "unfortunate
mentality" towards illegal works. He had warned them of "stringent
punishment and legal action for anti-social activity".

He had directed strict action against encroachment on roads, footpaths,
cycle tracks, service roads, illegal banners, dumping of rubble and waste
into rivers and illegal construction.

"The municipal commissioner has decided to visit parts of the city to ensure
that his orders are followed. The PMC has launched an anti-encroachment
drive and we will ensure that all the footpaths are free of encroachment,"
additional city engineer ( roads) Vivek Kharwadkar said.

"Pedestrian facilities in Pune are better now compared to the last few
years. It is walkable city, but there is scope for improvement," he added.





head: WB team in city next month



A World Bank (WB) team will be in Pune next month to discuss the Rs
227-crore loan for the civic body. If sanctioned, the funds will be used to
develop infrastructure for non-motorised transport on the Bus Rapid Transit
System route from Katraj to Hadapsar.

The WB had agreed to the loan in-principle as per the detailed project
report (DPR) presented by the PMC. The project proposal comprises
construction of a 41-km cycle track and footpaths on 33 feeder routes of the
pilot BRTS at a cost of Rs 67.37 crore, eight pedestrian subways and cycle
tracks for Rs 28.90 crore, public awareness campaigns amounting to Rs 6.4
crore and cycle stands on the routes at a cost of Rs 3 crore.