Copy to: Chief Minister of Delhi, Special CP (Traffic), OSD to LG Delhi, E-in-C MCD, Special Secy. to CM Delhi, Group Editor Times of India, Reporter Hindustan Times, Director UTTIPEC DDA, Director CSE, several other recipients which included media persons, bureaucrats, department heads and civil society activists.
Dear Hon'ble Chief Secretary Sir,
1. On Friday I received a call from a media person asking about the decisions of the Special Task Force and what I thought about the issue of NMV lanes being proposed in Delhi.
2. However Sir, before I could start explaining anything about the deliberations of the Task Force, I realized that the Reporter had already been briefed negatively and incorrectly about all the facts about NMV lanes and NMV usage in Delhi, as well as the deliberations/ decisions of the meeting. Therefore she was completely prejudiced and misinformed, and it almost sounded like I had to "defend" the decisions of the Task Force (made by almost unanimous vote under your Chairmanship, except for the singular dissent from Traffic Police)!!
3. The Reporter had been convinced by whoever she had spoken to, that NMV lanes are useless and a waste of public money and space. Complete contradictory to the Task Force deliberations!!
4. The point is Sir, this is not the first time this confusion + misinformation has happened. It has been too many times when Media is wrongly briefed by undisclosed people, without any basis or facts, and public opinion is swayed in the wrong direction. I have documented proof of many meetings where the actual Meeting deliberations & decisions have been completely DIFFERENT from what has been published by Media the next day, misinforming the entire city!
5. Sir, in order to prevent this confusion, misinformation and twisted stories going out to the larger public, I would humbly request you Sir if the Special task Force can hold a formal briefing under your Chairmanship after each meeting, to brief the Media about the deliberations/ decisions of the STF. The city needs to learn the real facts, people need to understand that these decisions are made for the long term good of their children and the city. And the only way to do so is by providing complete and true information.
6. As you know Sir, we all had also deliberated at length about the problems and hiccups confronting us about the implementation of NMV lanes, but there is majority agreement in the STF that we need to implement NMV lanes on all Arterial/ fast moving roads in the city, barring the dissent of the Traffic Police, which was duly recorded.
7. It was also discussed at the Task Force that NMV lanes may not be required on smaller roads, because the traffic there is already slow.
- NMV lanes are more required on the fast moving Arterial Roads because the speed of vehicles there (50-100 km/hr) is dangerous for NMV (15 km/hr)! How can people not understand this common sense fact Sir??
8. These issues about NMT (cycles/ cycle-rickshaws/ cycle-carts, etc) have been discussed numerous times at STF and UTTIPEC-GBM meetings over the last 3 years, yet the Reporter is being misinformed/ misguided by unknown sources about ALL of the following facts:
a) Almost all Arterial Roads in the city are more than 36m in width (Ring Roads are 60m, most others are 45 m), so even after 3+3 lanes of traffic, they can accommodate two NMV lanes, two footpaths, two MUZs, and still have more space left!!! Detailed cross-sections are provided in UTTIPEC Street Design Guidelines. See Table below:
|
each lane
width (m)
|
no. of lanes
|
Total width required
(m)
|
Motorized
|
±3.5
|
6
|
21
|
Non-motorized
|
±3
|
2
|
6
|
Footpath
|
2+
|
2
|
4
|
MUZ
|
2+
|
2
|
4
|
Median
|
±1
|
1
|
1
|
|
Total Right of Way required:
|
36 m
|
b) 35% people of this city own cycles (only 19% own cars), but only 6% ride them because of lack of safe infrastructure and comprehensive planning for NMV.
c) Cycle and pedestrian deaths in Delhi are highest in the country and most deaths are on Arterial Roads (data and maps for this exist with Traffic Police).
d) Peak hours for cyclists are different as they travel early morning or late night (when we are all at home), and at that time the arterial roads are MOST unsafe for them due to high speed traffic!
e) All Arterial Roads of Delhi have 5-15% cycle/NMV traffic moving on them, who therefore need protection from high speed vehicles.
f) A large proportion of the informal economy driving the growth of this city depends on NMV goods movement! Without them, the wheels of economy will crash; costs will go up and affect every person!! This was also alluded in the recent High Court judgment on BRT.
h) A peon or worker in any office travels anything between 4-14 kms to reach office on his cycle, which is a Free mode of transport for him. If we make cycling unsafe for him, he has to take a bus, which will make him poorer!!
i) More than 50% of this city is below poverty line and cannot even afford a Bus ticket!! leave alone Metro, 2-wheeler or auto!!
- Example: Only 5 out of 60 people in the UTTIPEC office use cars!! The rest 55 people use cycles, train, bus or auto, a few use Metro. Is this Majority not at all important to anybody who reads/ writes English in this city?
j) And yes... poor people don't just live in East or West Delhi. There is Govindpuri, Dakshinpuri and Khanpur in South Delhi also, but how many times to we hear them being discussed or written about??
Sir even after three years of working on this issue, we are still at the starting point with no progress on NMT. This is because:
· The three major stakeholders affecting this issue – the Traffic Police, the Designer/Expert, and the Media (representing 14% motorized traffic) are working at cross purposes. Although promoting NMT is beneficial for ALL, both in the short & long term, we continue to work within our feudal mindset – where we either show Authority or Dissent. Never cooperation and mutual consent.
· We have the best designers and engineers in the world, but we don’t have the system within Govt. Municipalities to make the two work together. Designers currently have no role in day to day public space planning, supervision, monitoring & troubleshooting, even though they are trained for this.
- Design just does not mean shallow aesthetics, it means solving spatial planning issues on roads & public spaces through use of creativity. An Engineer is not trained for this, he is trained for geometry, material mix and structure/ execution.
- RESULT: Inspite of spending more money on our roads than other countries, very few roads are usable by vulnerable users or pleasant workable urban spaces.
· There is no systemized (internationally acceptable) method for public participation and community involvement for spatial planning & design projects in Delhi.
In today’s case Sir, a young mind has been wrongly influenced. And the story she would write would derail the mind of the entire English-speaking noise-making population of the city. The people who’s needs will be negatively affected do not have the time to fight their case, as they are too busy earning a living or staying alive! So if we don’t fight their case Sir, who will?
In the above regard Sir, I would request if:
(i) Formal media briefings may be held by Your office after the STF meetings; and subsequently,
(ii) An elaborate campaign for public education & outreach be taken up in partnership with media houses, civil society organizations, expert bodies and government agencies.
That Sir, is my humble submission.
Enclosures:
a) Audit pictures of Ganesh Nagar: 'documenting public apathy' 02
Copied to (for information only):
(i) Hon'ble LG
(ii) MoUD (Urban Transport)
(iii) Chairperson, EPCA
p.s. Sir please find below, the email which I had send to the Hon'ble LG and your office two years back. It is so sad that the same situation is still continuing, with zero cooperation, and the facts that were hidden at that time are still hidden!
With warm regards,
Romi Roy
Senior Urban Designer, UTTIPEC DDA Delhi
Spl. Invitee, Masterplan Review Committee under LG, Delhi
Member, High Court Special Task Force on Transportation under CS, Delhi
Member, Technical Committee on Urban Drainage, GNCTD, Delhi
Spl. Invitee, LAP Monitoring Committee, MCD Delhi
Member, Sub-Committee on Sustainable Habitat, MoUD
"Sustainable Urban Design can be the foundation for Social Justice" - Enrique Peñalosa
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