Try walking in Delhi, if you can skip hurdles

NEW DELHI: On the narrow pavement outside LSR College on LalaLajpatRai Road, rickshaws are parked in a line. Across the road, car repair shops have encroached upon the footpath and keep tyres and other car parts on display. With little space in their shops, most shop owners have turned footpaths into their workshops.
As one drives on this 3km distance between Moolchand flyover and Nehru Place flyover, it is difficult to find a continuous and unobstructed stretch of footpath.Pedestrians have no option but to walk on the main road and brave the heavy traffic.
“There is no footpath on this road. As there are a lot of commercial establishments, people have demolished the footpath to create space for parking. At some places, the footpath is there but it is mainly used for parking by motorists,” said Satbir, a security guard at a showroom. While gyms, guesthouses, eateries, hospitals and other commercial establishments are opening up this busy stretch, there is hardly any space for parking. As a result, pavements are fast turning into parking zones.
Urban planners say the stretch is a perfect example of poor planning and lack of enforcement by government agencies. They say, on a mass transit corridor more space should be left for pedestrians and cyclists. The stretch is well-connected by Metro and buses, still the pavements are narrow. Also, the height of the pavement is uneven. “Near Nehru Place Flyover it is 2.3-3 feet while at other places it is less than 1.5 feet. The basic norms of street design are flouted on this stretch,” said Ashok Bhattacharjee, urban planner and former head of UTTIPEC.
Adding to the traffic menace are rickshaws. Residents say they are parked on pavements and the main roads, leaving little space for pedestrians. “The area is in a mess and no one is bothered about it. The pavements are really narrow, due to which people have to stand on the main roads. There is a bus stop right at the traffic signal. As rickshaws encroach upon pavements, people are forced to stand on the main road,” said L R Goela, a resident of East of Kailash.
Despite repeated complaints, residents say, Delhi Traffic Police and PWD (which owns the road) do little to remove encroachments. PWD officials say it is the traffic police’s responsibility to take action against vehicles parked on pavements. But police say they regularly take action against illegal parking. However, residents say they have not seen any action in the past few months.
“I don’t know about the problem on this stretch. I’ll get it checked. But we routinely take action against illegal parking. If people are parking on pavements on the stretch, we will take action,” said Muktesh Chander, special CP (Traffic).
Close to Nehru Place, street food vendors and hawkers squat on pavements. “It is a commercial hub and is visited by lakhs of people every day. There are many food vendors who have encroached upon the pavements,’’ said Pankaj Roy, who works in Nehru Place.
As roads continue to be made wider for the increasing traffic volume, the space for pedestrians is shrinking.