56 participants in Pedestrian Satyagraha at Matunga

Hello Sabhaites and Friends,

This is one of the campaigns where we need to get involved.

Best Regards,
Dolphy D'souza

----- Original Message -----
From: Krishnaraj Rao
To: Krishnaraj Rao 3
Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2008 2:14 PM
Subject: 56 participants in Pedestrian Satyagraha at Matunga

Dear All,

Yesterday, 56 public-spirited citizens come together from across the city to demand the pedestrians' right to walk on a clear unobstructed lane. They formed a human chain of about 800 metres on the Station Road in front of the Matunga Central Railway Station, and painted a pedestrian lane of about 6 feet at the centere of the road.

They also distributed pamphlets in large numbers to pedestrians and people in vehicles passing by. The key message in the pamphlet was that CITY SPACES MUST BE PLANNED IN A PEDESTRIAN-CENTRIC WAY, AND NOT IN VEHICLE-CENTRIC AND HAWKER-CENTRIC WAYS.

The Satyagraha participants were mostly senior citizens from Matunga, Sion, Dadar, Chembur, Ghatkopar and Andheri. They noted with amusement how the police and municipal corporation energetically cleared the footpaths of hawkers an hour before their Satyagraha began, creating conditions for pedestrians and vehicular traffic that were far better than normal.

The main contentions of the Satyagrahis led by local activist Nikhil Desai were:

1) The ample footpath on both sides of this important road is completely taken up by hawkers and shop encroachments, especially during evening rush hours when lakhs of people emerge from the Railway station.

2) The roadsides where the pedestrians can walk in relative safety are also taken over by hawkers, as well as angular parking and double-parking. While some of this parking is by the pay-and-park operator, most of it is done under hafta arrangements to facilitate shopkeepers.

3) Thus, the entire footpath and over two-thirds of the road is occupied by hawkers and parking. This leaves only one-third of the road -- the central part -- for movement of both vehicles and pedestrians.

What a strange state of affairs, especially with a major police chowky sitting bang in the middle of all this, right outside the railway station gate! How can this happen without the active connivance of the authorities? Do we need any further proof that bribery on a mass scale is at work?

This strange story is repeated all over the city... and indeed, nationwide, in all metros. Only a very small proportion of the road users -- 12% at most -- travel by private vehicles. Less than 0.25% of road users are hawkers. And yet, between them, they hog 98% of all available road and pavement space!

On the other hand, over 87% of the road's users are pedestrians. Crores of people emerging from railway stations every evening, all over the city, have no option but to somehow find a way to walk home amidst slow-moving cars and buses!

Is this what civic governance in a democracy should be -- welfare of small minorities while daily risking the lives and limbs of the vast majority? Surely, this is not what we elected our representatives for! Surely, this is not why officials of our administration draw their salaries!

Warm Regards,
Krishnaraj Rao
Spokesman
Sahasi Padyatri
98215 88114