New Delhi: For pedestrians in south Delhi, walking in the vicinity of Lady Shri Ram College has for years been less of a routine exercise and more of an art in dodging traffic.Broken footpaths, encroachments on them and unchecked parking have steadily eroded space, forcing the pedestrians to step onto roads in one of the area’s busiest traffic corridors.
Public Works Department (PWD) has now cleared a set of projects, worth over Rs 60 lakh, to improve pedestrian safety and ease of their movement along Lala Lajpat Rai Marg and adjoining roads.The measures approved include building a traffic island near the college, installing guard rails at key locations and raising footpaths along Raja Dheer Sen Marg to redefine pedestrian space. The stretch passes through dense commercial and institutional zones. It serves students, office-goers, residents and shoppers, with metro stations, schools, car showrooms, banks, clinics, cafés and neighbourhood stores in the vicinity. Despite heavy footfall, pedestrian infrastructure here has remained inadequate.One of the biggest problems is the lack of uninterrupted footpaths. Instead, they appear in short, uneven patches. Many of them have been rendered unusable by illegal parking, particularly of two-wheelers lined up across the walking space. Extensions of shop fronts, signage, flowerpots and informal stalls further narrow or completely block the footpaths. In several spots, footpath abruptly end — pushing pedestrians directly into the path of traffic. As a result, people are forced to walk alongside buses, autos, e-rickshaws and motorcycles, often during peak-hour congestion. For children, the elderly and people with disabilities, the risks are high.According to officials of the department, the newly approved project is meant to restore basic walkability along Lala Lajpat Rai Marg and Raja Dheer Sen Marg. Damaged concrete interlocking paver blocks on existing footpaths and central verges will be removed, and serviceable material reused where possible.The project also includes the installation of yellow tactile tiles laid to proper alignment and level along the footpaths to aid visually challenged pedestrians.Additional improvements, such as better treatment of edges of the footpaths and proper finishing touches, are expected to make the walkways clearly demarcated and more durable.While the success of the project will ultimately depend on the efficient removal of the encroachments and curbing illegal parking, the department’s intervention marks a step towards reclaiming pedestrian space on a stretch where walking currently is nothing short of dangerous.
