Raw deal for pedestrians

Bangalore might be a rock haven, an IT hub and a science centre but there’s one thing the City definitely isn’t — pedestrian-friendly.

While the situation on its roads might be bad, the scenario on pavements and at zebra crossings seems to be infinitely worse.

The reasons for this are countless — poor infrastructure, negligence and sheer indifference on behalf of the authorities have rendered many parts of the City difficult to navigate on foot.

Although the condition of pavements is deplorable, this is only a part of the problem. Some areas do not have pavements at all and thanks to poorly-organised traffic lighting, crossing the road can, at times, be a prolonged nightmare.

Sachin Jayaram, an engineering student, points out that while signals switch to allow the flow of traffic, these hardly provide a gap for pedestrians to cross the road — because of which, instances of jay-walking are alarmingly common. 

“In places like the USA, the traffic sense is much better — most signals have a button, which can be pushed when someone needs to cross the road. Priority is given to the pedestrian,” he explains, adding, “but in Bangalore, the situation is very different. Here, pedestrians are given a raw deal because of traffic violation. Areas like Brigade Road, Commercial Street and Mekhri Circle are the worst.”

Barely-there green lights aren’t the only reason that crossing a road can be tough in the City. There are very few subways and most of the dividers which have been constructed in Bangalore are of the narrow, uncomfortably tall variety.

More importantly, a fair number of citizens feel that they don’t have enough breaks to pass through. Nithya, a professor at NIFT, faces this problem on a daily basis.

“My house is very close to the highway — on Hosur Road, leading to Electronics City — and there’s no provision whatsoever for subway crossing. If I want to cross the road, I need to walk to the next cut in the divider — which is about half a kilometre away,” she complains.

Traffic congestion, she adds, is another reason why navigating Bangalore on foot is so difficult. “Cars and motorcycles are parked haphazardly and in many places, there is no pavement to walk on. If I want to avoid a parked vehicle, I have to walk on the road and run the risk of being hit by vehicle behind me. This is true of most Bangalore’s roads,” adds Nithya.

Sanjay Cariappa, a call centre professional, agrees that poor infrastructure has made life difficult for pedestrians in the City.

 “The condition of most pavements is pathetic, especially in areas like Koramangala. Pedestrians are often criticised for jay-walking, but the truth is that there isn’t any other option for many of us. With pavements blocked and no subways, we have no choice but to walk on the roads,” he reflects.