[sustran] Footpaths and pavements adjoining major roads are shrinking by the day

[Vinay Baindur]

*Footpaths and pavements adjoining major roads are shrinking by the day*,
making Bangalore among the most pedestrian-unfriendly cities anywhere
*BANGALORE MIRROR BUREAU *


Bangalore sends one pedestrian to the grave every day. Shocking, but true.
All because, for our city planners, pedestrians hardly matter. With
pavements literally non-existent or shrinking drastically, Bangalore is all
set to top the list of pedestrian-unfriendly cities. Of the 800-plus deaths
that occur on the roads of Bangalore every year, about 450-500 fatalities
are of pedestrians. The number is likely to increase in the future, because
of the indifference of the powers-that-are.

Though Bangalore has a road network of around 5,600 km, there is no official
record on the total length of footpaths or pavements dotting the city. While
pavements in the central parts of the city are getting extinct because of
road-widening projects, they have not even been conceived for the new roads
being constructed on the city’s periphery. The average width of a footpath
in the city is anywhere between 0.5 to 1 metre; thus jeopardising the
pedestrians’ right of way.


*KERBING GOOD SENSE *
*This is how it should be*:

The Indian Code for the Pedestrian Facilities — IRC 103-1988, recommends
that: There be a footpath on both sides of the road Minimum width of 1.5 m
on both sides. LOS (Level of Service) concept dictates the maximum width
Dead width of 0.5m and 1m to be added to sidewalk along houses and
commercial areas Footpath width to be increased in cases of bus stops and
recreational areas Height of footpath to be above the carriageway supported
by an un-mountable kerb

*This is what we have: *
There are no footpaths on several roads.Wherever there are, a majority of
those are less than one metre. Gardens are grown by houseowners on footpaths
Vehicles owners use footpaths for parking bikes and cars All kinds of public
utilities like bus stops and electric poles are located on footpaths While
shopkeepers block the way for pedestrians by placing display boards,
hundreds of darshinis (fast food joints) place tables on the pavements.
Public toilets are constructed on pavements There are no guard rails on most
of the pavements. In some areas, pavements and roads are at the same level
Pavements are used to store construction material like sand, bricks and
steel.

DANGER ZONE
About 550 pedestrians are killed and more than 10,000 are injured every year
in Bangalore city.The number of those suffering minor injuries is around
40,000 to 50,000 Six per cent of fatal and 15 per cent of non-fatal
pedestrian injuries occurred in children below 15 years 51 per cent of those
killed and 58 per cent of injured were young men in the age group of 16-45
years. Women were involved more in extremes of age groups 17 per cent of
pedestrian deaths and 10 per cent of non-fatal injuries were among the
elderly Majority of the pedestrians killed were those with lesser education
and moderate income levels While 24 per cent of pedestrian deaths occurred
at the crash site, 21 per cent of them died on the way to hospital
Pedestrian deaths is higher in the outer areas of the city while injuries
were more in the central parts.

ALL SO HAPHAZARD
As a result, pedestrians are either forced to walk on the roads or walk on
their edges, often having to navigate or get around minigardens,
streetlights, transformers, hawkers and bus shelters. Complicating matters
for the pedestrian is the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) lack
of consistency in footpath design. From granite slabs to cobblestones to
concrete blocks to marble stones —- pavements keep morphing twice in 15
months, thanks, of course, to the pavement lobby that is making crores of
rupees on the pretext of beautifying the city. There is no application of
science while constructing a footpath; instead everything depends on what
the contractorpolitician-bureaucrat nexus decides. Moreover, there is no
mechanism to repair damaged pavements.
The traffic police too add to the woes of the pedestrian by not banning
footpath parking in the city. This apart, guard rails are non-existent in
Bangalore: A majority of the pavements, including those on busy roads like M
G Road and Kempe Gowda Road, do not have guard rails to prevent pedestrians
from jaywalking on the main road. Lack of guard rails facilitates vehicular
parking on footpaths.