272 pedestrians' deaths in one year! BBMP, are you listening?

B' luru accounted for the highest number of pedestrian deaths in 2020 due to lack of proper footpaths 

Sowmya Raju | NT

Bengaluru: Being one of the busiest metropolitan cities of India, Bengaluru has to contend with a huge pedestrian population and vehicular traffic on roads. But in the absence of proper footpaths, pedestrians have become the most vulnerable to grievous injuries or even accidental deaths on roads and footpaths.

In fact, there is little or no pedestrian pathways in the city and most of the existing ones are either damaged or poorly maintained. All these pose a serious risk to the safety of pedestrians, especially during rush hours. The absence of proper, well maintained pedestrian pathways more often than not forces people to walk on the main roads, causing traffic congestion and further exposing them to the often life threatening injuries from vehicular traffic on the roads.

Moreover, the damaged pathways add to the problem by causing discomfort and inconvenience to pedestrians, especially senior citizens, children, pregnant women and physically disabled people, who are forced to navigate through uneven surfaces, potholes, and obstacles.

While the city is developing its infrastructure such as widening the roads, building flyovers, subways and so on and so forth to reduce traffic congestion, the development is happening at the cost of pedestrian pathways. According to the latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Bengaluru reported the highest number of pedestrian fatalities in 2020, with a staggering 272 deaths.

This highlights the alarming vulnerability of pedestrians, who are at heightened risk across India, but particularly so in the city. With an ever-growing population, increasing congestion, and rising levels of vehicular pollution, footpaths are essential for enabling safe commutes for the majority of Bengalureans who prefer walking for their daily activities. A campaign manager at Greenpeace, M S Sharat, brings up an important point about the issue of traffic congestion in urban areas.

Rather than resorting to road widening, which is not the solution, he believes that the government should focus on improving public transportation to reduce the number of cars and bikes on the road. Sharat further highlights the importance of pedestrian walkways in facilitating this goal.

Unfortunately, lack of pedestrian infrastructure, coupled with the need to walk long distances to access public transport, creates a significant impediment for commuters. Sharat also asked if the government was taking into account the needs and priorities of all segments of society or only a select few.