World | India
Mumbai 'revolt' over shrinking pavements
Pedestrians of Mumbai are being asked to join a new campaign to demand their right to walk freely on pavements meant only for them.
- By Pamela RaghunathCorrespondent
- Published: 00:15 April 17, 2008
- Image Credit: Bloomberg
- A woman walks on a pavement near the Gateway of India in Mumbai.
Mumbai: Pedestrians of Mumbai are being asked to join a new campaign to demand their right to walk freely on pavements meant only for them.
The pedestrian "satyagraha" or civil disobedience is finding support from people fed up with cluttered pavements or dangerous roads that do not have sidewalks.
"This is the eighth such agitation that we will be holding this afternoon, this time in IC Colony in Borivili," says Krishnaraj Rao, co-founder and spokesperson of Sahasi Padyatri (brave pedestrian), an organisation that is attracting several volunteers.
Their latest attempt is to get the authorities sit up and take notice. "So, our people will be painting the middle of the road to tell the traffic police that this is pedestrian territory and this is where we want to walk, free from illegal structures, vehicles, hawkers or encroachments," says Rao.
Pedestrians have been ignored by urban planners who come up with fancy mega road projects that never include a decent pavement where people can walk freely and safely.
The pavements are encroached on by illegal structures, hawkers and slum-dwellers. The organisation demands that pedestrians be provided a six-foot-wide walkway along the middle of the roads.
The volunteers plan to raise the demand through printed letters that would be sent to the authorities.
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