Three stretches of roads in the city will be vehicle-free every Sunday from 4 pm to 11 pm.
The traffic department has, in a recent notification, declared three roads in the city to be made 'vehicle-free zones' every Sunday from 4pm to 11pm. Lauding the move, urban planners in the city have termed it a pedestrian-friendly approach. They feel that more roads need to be declared vehicle-free.
The stretches from Swastik crossroads to Shilp crossroads on CG Road, Samartheshwar Mahadev crossroads to Gajjar Hall to NCC Campus at Law Garden and Pushpakunj swimming pool to Jaldhara Water World will now be 'vehicle-free' on Sunday evenings. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) had proposed to declare these places as 'Vehicle Free Zone'.
Urban planners have appreciated the initiative by the civic body and the police department and called it pedestrian-friendly. They believe that awareness should be created among masses regarding importance of pedestrian space in the city. "It is a worldwide practice to declare commercial districts as vehicle-free zone. In other countries, the move encourages people to walk, while in Ahmedabad, around 30-40% people walk, so we need such roads," said Utpal Sharma, dean of Faculty of Planning and Public Policy at Cept University.
Planners believe that roads are public assets and not meant only for vehicular traffic. "In Ahmedabad, people do not have much access to roads and it's a positive sign that pedestrians are provided space for use," said Chris Kost, director of research at ITDP.
Sharma said that all other countries had to face protest initially due to lack of awareness and experience but now they have made it a practice to have such zones on a regular basis. They have even received support from people. "As it not possible to make these roads vehicle-free zones on permanent basis, it has been started on a temporary basis. The practice should be adopted for other areas as well. He also said that studies have proven that business increases in vehicle-free zones.
Urban planners and transport experts believe that streets belong to the people and they should be used as public places.
Shivanand Swami, professor and associate director of Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (Cept) University, said that the very concept adopted by developing nations is in tandem with slogan of urban transport, 'Give Streets Back to People'.
AMC will decide on whether to declare more stretches as 'vehicle-free' only after receiving feedback from all stake holders. "We do not have any further plan to extend it to other streets. However, the street from Bhadra to Teen Darwaja will be vehicle-free as part of Restoration Project," said Guruprasad
Mohapatra, commissioner of AMC.
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