FOOTPATH BLUES: Advertisement hoardings often encroach upon pavements in the city. A scene near the Anna Nagar Circle. — Photo: K. Pichumani.

CHENNAI: Somewhere between the blaring horns and flashing traffic lights on the Chennai roads, the city's pedestrians are struggling to cope with everyday commute.

Most of the city's pathways are unusable owing to rampant encroachments not just by private parties such as hawkers and advertisement hoardings but also government agencies such as the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board with its junction boxes and the city police with their booths.

And even at places where pavements are available, they are rendered useless with high kerbs that make it difficult for senior citizens and children to climb. There are no ramps for the disabled and for a person walking with mobility aid, pedestrians' pathways are a bigger nightmare than the road itself.

Pedestrians, though very high in numbers, do not seem to catch the attention of road safety campaigns as much as two-wheeler riders even though pedestrian accidents account for about 30 per cent of total accidents and about 40 per cent of all fatal accidents (source: "Pedestrian Safety in India, a far cry - case study of Chennai City in year 2001" by K.P. Subramanian and M. Kanagaraj of Division of Urban Engineering, Anna University).

A senior police officer, who was involved in the road safety campaigns during the previous regime, pointed out the absence of peer pressure from any organised group representing the interests of pedestrians could be a reason for this neglect. "Somehow politicians and bureaucrats alike seem to overlook the man on the street while planning the city," he said, on condition of anonymity.

The Indian Road Congress has broad guidelines for pedestrian pathways in cities. It states that the pathway must be at least 1.5 metres wide if the pedestrian density is around 800 persons per hour in both directions. Pathways must be at least 2.5 metres where the density is up to 2,500 persons per hour. Shopping areas must have an additional width of one metre.

The planners often overlook the guidelines. A case in point is the construction of flyovers during the previous DMK regime. The pedestrian pathways were "cut to size" after the flyovers came, quite literally pushing the pedestrians to the roads. Though the Corporation then promised to acquire land adjoining the flyovers to widen the roads and the pavements, it was never followed up.

The Hyderabad Corporation set right similar drawbacks through a special formula whereby it acquired private land in exchange of floor space index. The civic body was able to widen its roads and pavements considerably. Ravi Damodaran, one of the organisers of the "Citizen for Safe Roads" campaign, said pedestrians and cyclists were often the missing links in the agenda of city planners. He pointed out that pedestrian pathways in the busiest stretches of the city were completely taken over by hawkers and advertisement hoardings. "Last year, we had submitted a list of advertisement hoardings that were obstructing the pedestrians on pathways to the traffic police. But nothing much has happened ever since."

Experts point out that role of municipalities must extend beyond providing roads and that it must include annual road safety audits to ensure that the city's largest category of road-user gets recognition and their needs satisfied.

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