'Iconic city' Ggn has no proper facilities for pedestrians

Gurugram: What was feared for long finally became a reality after a pedestrian who was trying to cross the Golf Course road got hit by a car and subsequently succumbed to his injuries on Sunday. The deceased, identified as Mahesh Mistry, was a carpenter who had come to the city for livelihood from Bihar. His other colleague Kishori also sustained injuries in the mishap.

The state government on its part may be spending crores to revamp the major roads of Gurugram. In doing so it may be in the process of making it an icon city, a title that has bestowed over it by Chief Minister ML Khattar.

Even as plans are being executed to widen the city roads, a large number of people are having a grouse that the authorities are not allotting space for city cyclists. Recently, Golf Course road, upgraded. But it is still to create dedicated tracks for cyclists and better facilities for the pedestrians.

With cyclists, pedestrians and commuters on two wheelers being the most vulnerable on city roads, for long there has been a demand that the roads in the modern city must also have space for the cyclists. The voices over this issue has again found resonance after the air pollution in the city has spiralled to hazardous levels owing to large number of vehicles on city roads. Moreover, the commuters continue to grapple in huge traffic jams even in the recently reconditioned roads.

On an average, there are eight deaths and thirty accidents occurring daily in Gurugram. For a city that is witnessing about 48,000 vehicle registrations in a year, deadly accidents continue to be a major challenge in

the city.

"The planning by public and private authorities does need a complete overhaul and needs to encompass all forms of commuters. Unfortunately because of vested interests, it will never be followed. The civil society must continue to raise its voice with regards to development of facilities for cyclists and pedestrians," said Sarita Bhargava, a city resident.