20 percent of city roads have no footpaths

More than 20 per cent of roads in Bangalore do not have footpaths, says a survey report by Janaagraha, a non-profit organisation based in the city.

As part of Ward Quality Score (which aims to measure the quality of life in the city), Janaagraha has been conducting a survey since January on five key determinants - mobility, sanitation, water, public amenities and environment.

It has already released a report on water and sanitation.

Now, it has released a report on mobility.

A press release from Janaagraha said the report focused on walkability, which includes adequate footpaths, pedestrian crossing aids and street lighting, all combined facilities which make roads user-friendly and safe for pedestrians.

The report revealed that 20.9 per cent of the roads surveyed have no footpaths, while 53.3 per cent have footpaths on both sides and 52.4 per cent have sufficiently wide footpaths on both sides.

Stressing on safe pedestrian crossing at junctions, the release said provisions like zebra crossings or subway/skywalk, pedestrian signals, acoustic signals for visually-challenged and a graduated curb between footpath and road are needed.

The report said 52.3 per cent of the junctions have zebra crossing, while 50.1 per cent have signals to assist the pedestrians.

Also, the survey revealed that 61 per cent of the locations have inadequate street lighting.

As many as 40 portable lux meters are used to measure the brightness of street lights.

At present, Janaagraha is conducting a poll on “Which is the best way to make Bangalore more walkable.” Public can participate by logging on to www.ichangemycity.com

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