[sustran] BDA and BBMP effort to decongest Bangalore's roads by widening them turned out to be fatal for pedestrians

[Vinay Baindur]

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/civic/Wide-open-invitation-to-danger/articleshow/42551354.cms




Wide open invitation to danger
By Niranjan Kaggere, Bangalore Mirror Bureau | Sep 16, 2014, 04.00 AM IST
[image: Wide open invitation to danger]



*Experts say that the roads have not only considerably failed to deliver on
the objective of decongestion, but also jeopardised the lives of
pedestrians*







*The effort of BDA and BBMP to decongest Bangalore's busiest roads by
widening them turned out to be fatal for pedestrians. Between 2008 and 2014
(March), 1,085 have died, most of them while trying to cross the roads*


Around five years ago, in an effort to decongest a few of the city's
emerging busy stretches, both the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and
the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) widened the roads and
upgraded them to 'international standard.' However, the result in many
cases shows a scary picture of steep rise in accidents and subsequent loss
of life.
According to the latest data made available by the Bangalore Traffic Police
under Right to Information Act, after the expansion, 175 pedestrians were
killed in road accidents on the Madivala Outer Ring Road junction on Hosur
Road, 128 people on Hosur Road, 88 pedestrians lost their lives on the
widened Varthur Main Road along the Outer Ring Road while 69 people were
crushed to death on the Bannerghatta-Outer Ring Road Junction. Between 2008
and 2014 (March), a whopping 1,085 pedestrians have died while 3,123 people
have been severely injured on city roads.
Ironically, the data revealed that it is only the widened roads that are
turning out to be the nemesis of pedestrians. According to urban planning
experts, the roads have not only considerably failed to deliver on the
objective of decongestion, but also jeopardised the lives of pedestrians.
The wide roads, while facilitating motorists and swanky automobiles, have
totally cut off mobility of several hundred people across the city, experts
claimed.


*No Amenities for pedestrians*
Prompted by the general notion that people are afraid of crossing wide
roads, Vinay K Sreenivasa of Alternative Law Forum along with some other
members filed the RTI to fetch the data.
"We did not know what was preventing people from using such wide roads as
civic agencies claim that they are wide and spacious enough for pedestrians
and motorists. However, these statistics prove that the people are indeed
losing their lives by venturing to cross these wide roads."
Sreenivasa attributes the spike in accidents to the lack of amenities for
pedestrians. "While some of the roads lack basic footpaths, majority of
them do not have facilities like zebra-crossing, pelican lights, skywalks
or pedestrian underpasses. At some roads, underpasses have been built where
people hardly cross over or are found locked all the time. In the absence
of these when pedestrians venture out either to cross or walk they will
only be mowed down by speeding vehicles," Sreenivasa added.
Jenny Pinto, who has been fighting for pedestrian rights in Bangalore said,
"What scares people is the fast moving traffic. They just race with each
other on these stretches. Senior citizens, women and kids are forced to cut
off their mobility and do not venture out fearing for life. Such is the
situation on Bangalore roads."


*'Narrow roads don't kill people'*
Vinay also clarified that the statistics about pedestrian deaths and severe
injuries confuted the common myth about narrow roads killing people. "All
civic agencies contend that narrow roads lead to accidents and death of
people. But in the details provided by the traffic police there is hardly
any evidence to prove the claim as no deaths have been reported from narrow
stretches of Bangalore. On the other hand, with the widening there is no
place for people to cross or stand. Medians have also been shrunk to their
smallest possible size. We believe that widening has been done only to help
movement of cars and other vehicles," he added.