Making roads in Kochi inviting to pedestrians

While urban planners are making some cities in the world more walkable, our cities are becoming increasingly hostile to pedestrians. SHYAMA RAJAGOPAL goes into the results of a pedestrian audit conducted recently by an NGO in Kochi.

Walking on the roads in Kochi is a nightmare.

Ask pedestrians and they will tell you why. Unruly traffic, overflowing gutters, encroachments, non-existent foot paths, accumulated garbage – the list goes on and on.

Identifying needs

So what exactly makes life so difficult for pedestrians on our roads.

A pedestrian audit by the Kochi-based Centre for Public Policy Research tried to find out the problems faced by pedestrians, what they thought should be done to facilitate safe walking and who they thought should take the lead in improving the situation.

A pedestrian audit, says the centre, is a road safety audit.

Or in other words, it is what the government agencies undertake to estimate the safety needs of the roads.

It seeks to ensure adherence to road safety rules and construction regulations, be a forum to showcase the opinions of all stakeholders, let authorities have a say and yet see how far one can hold them accountable in a non-confrontational manner. Though the centre’s initiative may not have covered a large number of people, it is, perhaps, the first one of its kind to find out what the pedestrians look forward to.

And to that extent, an intiative to make the city more ‘walkable’.

The centre points out that that the Indian road rules insist on footpaths with an even surface and continuity with a minimum of 1.5-m width.

And they should be clean and free from obstacles or encroachments.

Besides how many know that footpaths ought to have guiding blocks for visually challenged people and the kerb height should not exceed 15 cm?

The capacity of footpaths must, as far as one- and two-way footpaths go, differ according to the number of pedestrians traversing on it, points out another specification for Indian roads. But in most cities, a one-way road is indistinguishable from a two-way one. There are often no indications to show that a particular road is one-way. A motorist gets to know about it on being nabbed by the police.

The centre also refers to the lack of awareness of traffic signals among pedestrians. Many do not know that that a zebra crossing is a free-cross zone.

Most pedestrians take a criss-cross route to cross the roads in between the flow of vehicles. Many, perhaps, do not even know what the traffic lights indicate.

Unruly traffic

And what made Kochi roads unfriendly to pedestrains? About 76 per cent of those who took part in the audit listed unruly traffic as the main obstacle.

This was followed by overflowing gutters, garbage, absence of pedestrian crossings, unusable footpaths, two-wheelers usurping footpaths, encroachments and so on.In the audit, about 48 per cent of the respondents indicated that better traffic regulation is needed to make the roads pedestrian- friendly. Better regulation can be achieved by providing separate lanes for different types of vehicles, said about 47 per cent of the respondents. Nearly 43 per cent indicated that pedestrian pathways have to be improved.

And who are capable of making roads more pedestrian friendly?The majority (37 per cent) felt it was the government authorities who should take the lead.

Those who said the onus was on vehicle drivers made up about 20 per cent and that on the general public, 18 per cent.

A significant section – about 30 per cent – said that among others, all the three sections, should play a role in bringing about change.

Volvo Asian Race and Cochin city

Another dream project getting pegged in the bureaucratic meddle ton.  It is a long wait for the cochiates to receive Sports lovers and travellers from all over the world at the occasion of Volvo Asian race. If I am not mistaken, this challenge is in the air for more than year. it means this has provided enough time to local authorities to prepare for the gala event. But what is the reality; newspaper and media reports say that we have a long way to host the event though the first leg has already been kicked off. 

My immediate comment to the whole issue is that it creates an opportunity to think about the vast resources and potential around us which is yet to be utlised in a proper way. Marine Drive is in a saggy condition. All the hooplah around the tourism ministry's development plans reflect the lack of coordiantion and vision. it also ensures that they are not responsible for the work they are doing. No matter what happens after the inauguration is not worth to mention.  Why cant we invite global tenders to beautify Marine Drive? Leave it to the entrepreneurs to work for the community and social responsibility. Let it be a tourist spot of world attention. Similar is the case with the other tourist spots in and around city. Let Mattanchery and Fort Cochin are in the custody of the local communities and allow them to organise weekly festivals and shopping centres. Let it be the Queen of Arabian Sea in actual sense; festivals and theatres and colors everywhere

At least two dozen pedestrians are killed or injured on Kochi’s roads every year

KOCHI: Walking might be good for health, but not along Kochi’s roads. Many roads in the city, including arterial ones do not have footpaths, forcing people to walk along uneven road shoulders. Insensitive motorists do not care for pedestrians and brush past them at high-speed. Pedestrians are not safe even at zebra lines, where motorists in all civilised countries slow down to give them preference. Out in Kochi, they intimidate pedestrians by trying to speed past before they manage to cross the road.

Walking along even roads with footpaths is quite a nightmare. Pedestrians have to endure spit (people insist on spitting on the footpath even if there is an open drain on the side), dirt and rotting garbage that adorn the city’s roads.

Then there are slabs which are missing or the ones that sharply protrude out from the footpath, which kill or maim at least two dozen people in Kochi each year. An example is the ill-maintained footpath along the Rajendra Maidan-Menaka stretch, where vendors occupy a good share of the footpath.

Despite police action in some stretches, cars and bikes continue to be parked on the footpath in front of commercial establishments. Fallen tree stumps and branches are left to decay on the footpath, forcing pedestrians to venture into the road.

As for senior citizens and handicapped people, climbing the footpaths is quite a tiresome proposition.

Pedestrians have to risk their life to cross busy intersections since the signal lights aimed at guiding pedestrians malfunction in most places.

Fed up with inaction on the part of the Corporation of Cochin and the PWD that have to maintain the footpaths and ensure that roads have zebra lines at least in junctions, a pedestrian audit was conducted in between the Judges Avenue Junction at Kaloor and the St Antony’s Church there a few days ago. The initiative to mobilise support for pedestrian rights came from the Centre for Public Policy Research.

“Motorists must remember that they too become pedestrians once they venture out of the vehicle,” said Jaismon Antony, an active member of the agency who is pursuing his degree course in sociology from Sacred Heart College, Thevara.

“Some respondents in the survey said that many pedestrians cross the road carelessly. We plan to carry out such campaigns in other parts of the city too, so that the Corporation takes note of the hassles pedestrians encounter. Unlike in most foreign countries, pedestrians here get a raw deal. Pedestrians turn more vulnerable in unlit roads,” he said, citing the death of a senior citizen near Janatha Junction on SA Road after he fell into an uncovered drain.

The Centre plans to bring out a manual that details the specifications for pedestrian-friendly footpaths. Their next initiative – a campaign to reduce the number of bus stops in cities.
Bus stops increase when people are reluctant to walk to the next bus stop along unsafe and ill-maintained footpaths.

Better footpaths would mean that more people take to walking up short distances – an inexpensive and non-polluting way to travel.

The Centre, formed by a group of visionary students can be contacted at 0484-6469177, or log on to reinventingcohin.blogspot.com.