In Rohini, pedestrians are worst victims of road planning

Two decades after it came into existence, the entire sub city of Rohini is screaming for an action plan to right road infrastructure wrongs, according to road and transport infrastructure expert Professor PK Sarkar. Jatin Anand reports.

Two decades after it came into existence, the entire sub city of Rohini is screaming for an action plan to right road infrastructure wrongs, according to road and transport infrastructure expert Professor PK Sarkar.

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"Crores of rupees have visibly been spent on flyovers and underpasses in the area but not even a single penny, it seems, has been spent to put even the minimum facilities in place for pedestrians," said Professor Sarkar.

As he surveyed the area's most problematic traffic black spots, ascertained by senior Delhi traffic police officers, Sarkar had no qualms in saying the area had been a victim of "total neglect of traffic and engineering principles".

"The entire area has a sizeable population of rickshaws but there's no designated lane for them. Pedestrians have been the worst victims of the apathy of the government agency that built the underpass at Madhuban Chowk on Dr Hegdewar Marg. There is no designated bus stop and passengers have to risk their lives as they dodge heavy goods vehicles and speeding cars while boarding and de-boarding the buses," Sarkar said. "If as low as 5% of what was spent on underpasses had been spent on auditing the area from the point of view of pedestrians, these problems could have been rectified," he said.

The entire stretch neither has proper street lighting nor 'guide-arrows' and reflectors to help two-wheeler drivers from ramming into them on foggy nights.