Roads in the capital lack walking spaces: Experts

Experts today said the roads in the capital lack walking space and emphasized pedestrian-friendly policies while designing the city.

Designers should keep pedestrian-friendly concepts in mind while developing the architecture of the city and people need to cooperate with government in implementation of such policies, they said while speaking at a conference "Will Delhi become walkable" organised by the urban habitats Forum here.

Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta said that it was high time Delhi became more walkable.

"No project on making the city walkable would ever work unless people and the different civil groups see the importance of coming together for developing projects. The government can take the initiative but implementation is impossible without citizens co-operating with them," he said.

"RWAs could work on developing walking areas and developing the under-utilised spaces for pedestrian parks and spaces. We need more subways and elevated roads," Sam Miller, author of 'Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity' said.

While car is an addiction to many of its users, it wasn't entirely difficult to pull many out of the habit and make them use public transport, that not only meant more walking but also less carbon emission, they said.
     
The much criticised BRT concept in Delhi was appreciated for being pedestrian friendly.