A new policy about pedestrian safety and facilities has been recently drafted and is now awaiting the approval of the municipal commissioner.
Once approved, it will lay down the policies, principles and rules that must be followed by the civic body and related agencies and the traffic police in building, repairing or making any changes to the city’s roads and associated infrastructure so that the safety of pedestrians is not compromised.
The policy has been drafted by a committee which was constituted by municipal commissioner Kunal Kumar and worked out under the chairmanship of additional municipal commissioner Om Prakash Bakoria. Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Sarang Awad, city engineer Prashant Waghmare, chief engineer (projects) Srinivas Bonala were the other office bearers in the committee which also included activists Prashant Inamdar, convener of Pedestrians FIRST and Ranjit Gadgil of Parisar.
The committee submitted a comprehensive draft of the policy keeping in mind various related policies, standards and guidelines and international practices.
As of now, there is no policy to safeguard the interests of the pedestrians and as such no specific procedure followed while deciding the type, number and form of pedestrian walkways and crossings in the city. If implemented, the policy will help Pune join the league of cities like Chennai and Shimla, which have placed pedestrians at the top of all road-related decisions.
It is a very big step towards ensuring safety of pedestrians, said Awad. “Not having suitable pedestrian facilities not only leads to accidents, but also affects smooth traffic flow. This policy will help clarify all procedures and rules that will need to be followed so that pedestrians’ interest is not neglected,“ he said.
Inamdar said pedestrians are the most vulnerable of all road users, and also the most neglected. “No wonder that about one-third of road accident casualties are pedestrians. Senior citizens, ladies and children are the worst affected. The pedestrian policy should lead to improvement in infrastructure and safety in the city. We have requested the municipal commissioner to approve it and adopt it for implementation at the earliest,“ he added.
Committee member Ranjit Gadgil of Parisar said the policy has emerged out of the growing need to have better designed junctions and crossings since pedestrians face great difficulties in crossing streets. “Subways and pedestrians foot overbridges (FOBs) are not viable solutions, as they are not preferred by pedestrians and viola te the Persons with Disabilities Act. We are confident that, if the PMC implements this policy in letter and spirit, we will see a transformation of our streets. Creating a `nonmotorized cell’ that will ensure that this happens is the next critical step,“ he added.
Source : TOI
