For all those who know and have experienced that Chennai city is not a safe city for pedestrians, comes proof that it is nothing short of dangerous. According to the results of a comparative study on ‘Walkability in Indian Cities’, Chennai has a long way to go, and certainly not by walking because you may not live to tell the tale. The study conducted by the Delhi-based Clean Air Initiative (CAI) gives Chennai 40 out of 100, behind all other cities surveyed, including Indore (42), Surat (43), Bangalore (45), Bhubaneswar (50) and Pune (54).
“We asked pedestrians how they feel about motorists on the road. Do they slow down and signal people to move? We found that motorists in Chennai drive around literally in desperation and in a tearing hurry,” said Parthaa Bosu from CAI. Well this is the city where a speeding motorist fell off a flyover a couple of years ago. Recently, I admonished an auto-rickshaw driver for going in the wrong direction on a one-way road and he was insolent: “Neenga traffic constablea?”(Are you a traffic constable?). Little wonder, Chennai scored just 45 out of 100 for motorist behaviour. In fact, it scored the lowest or second lowest on six parameters, including disability infrastructure, motorist behaviour, grade crossing safety and walkability.
Last year, according to traffic police records, nearly 500 pedestrians died on the city’s roads. If there are footpaths, they have disappeared because of encroachers, or obstacles like junction boxes, parked vehicles, overflowing garbage bins, shops, signboards and wires. There are house owners who grow gardens and enclose the pavements outside their houses or buildings. Chennai Corporation is not bothered about its people because starting with the mayor, the AIADMK-dominated body is busy trying to please amma.