Crossing the main roads in the market areas particularly has become a nightmare. While the traffic signals are situated miles away from the market entrances the flow of traffic is heavy and unrelenting even at the zebra crossings.
A lady with her son struggling to cross a road between Sector 5 market and Sector 11
Crossing roads in Dwarka, which is incidentally one of the most planned sub cities has become a tough and risky affair. Ironically the city has no infrastructure through which pedestrians can move from one area to another without crossing roads. Hence residents are naturally demanding for underground sub ways or foot over bridges at least at the particularly busy junctures. the market places of Sector 6 and Sector 10 market are some such areas.
Mukund Sharma a resident of Sector 10 said, “If you want to walk from the Sector 6 market to Sector 10 market you either have to cross the busy thoroughfare road or take a U turn that spreads over almost a kilometre. This is a glaring example of how badly planned the roads are in terms of pedestrian ease.”
Crossing the Master Plan roads and roads near busy chowks have become a nightmare. To avoid long turns from the signals, gaps have been made in the grills of some dividers. In the words of Madhumita Negi, a resident of Sector 12, “ The Ashirvad Chowk area has four markets and accessing these markets is a real challenge for a pedestrian because the roads are clogged with traffic. Moreover, the traffic signals are far from the entrance of these markets. If I have to go from the Sector 12 market to the Sector 4 market I have to walk a distance of atleast 300 metres which is taxing. The authorities should make a sub way here for pedestrians.”
Crossing roads is also difficult in the markets of Sector 5 and 11 and at the signal of Sector 1. Pedestrians face problems at Madhu Vihar too.
Crossing the road which goes from Sector 3 towards Dwarka Mor is probably the toughest ordeal. In this stretch of a kilometre and half pedestrians often jump the divider’s grill which is a very risky affair. The woes of pedestrians are compounded by the fact that vehicles often refrain from halting at zebra crossings.
Residents of Dwarka are now exerting pressure on the authorities (through social media groups and residents forums) to resolve the challenges of pedestrians. According to sources in the sub city a joint survey was conducted on the subject in 2010 by DDA and UTTIPEC. However, there have been no visible outcomes.
President of Dwarka Forum Rejimon CK who was also involved in the 2010 survey said,“ There was a demand for foot over bridges even then. It is high time that the authorities install such basic urban infrastructure so that Dwarka can truly look like the Master Plan City that it is."
