Time for pedestrians to get their due on city roads

This picture has been used for representational purposes

The Juhu Tara traffic junction is set to be redeveloped using corporate money. The junction's redevelopment plan was ready way back in January this year, but screeched to a halt, due to the COVID-19 lockdown and cost-cutting by the BMC. Now, it will be completed with the help of private firms.

Well-planned road junctions are crucial not only for vehicles but also for pedestrians' safety.

A report in this paper cited a senior K West ward official saying that improvement of junctions while giving preference to pedestrians is important. This is a very welcome statement, given that by design, or unintentionally, pedestrians come last in the pecking order when it comes to our roads.

We have seen pedestrians stumbling on uneven footpaths. Hiking boots are made for trails and hills but could very well be made for Mumbai footpaths. Citizens will be well aware of our paver block problems. They are put in by our civic authorities. Then, dug up and removed because of some problem or the other. Lying uncleared on the side of the road for days together, further eating into whatever little access pedestrians have.

Encroachment is a perennial problem here, with cars or stalls simply eating up the space that pedestrians rightly call theirs.

This paper recently highlighted a fisherman sculpture installed at a Worli Seaface traffic island. Effort is on to make this small island, surrounded by heavy traffic to and from the Sea Link, into a pedestrian plaza.

Whether private or public, it is time we weave in pedestrian access or refuge areas or plazas - give it any label you wish - into our traffic management plans. In fact, make the on-our-two-feet fleet move to the top of the ladder. Walk the talk, Mumbai.