Walking, Hippocrates said, is man's best medicine. But think again if you have decided to hit the roads in Chennai for your daily dose.
Even the area around Pondy Bazaar, where the Smart City project has come up, is not immune from the woes plaguing pedestrians in the city. Ask Jaysingh.
Every evening, the 66-year-old laces up his sandals and steps out for a walk down Usman Road to meet his friends at Pondy Bazaar—a routine he has followed since retiring from the railways a decade ago. A mighty challenge confronts the senior citizen on each occasion.
The footpath he once strolled along with ease now barely exists. It's buried under plastic stools and mannequin legs. There are also the motorbikes that dart across like they own the sidewalk. Agility and nimbleness of the highest order is demanded, and every time.
Then again, Jaysingh at least has the luxury of having a sidewalk. These are a rarity for others.
"Pondy Bazaar and a few other posh areas in the city have well-maintained footpaths. However, in my area, there are no separate sidewalks. The construction of sidewalks could reduce accidents involving pedestrians," a daily commuter from Triplicane complained to The New Indian Express.
The talk of accidents brings the risks involved in crossing over into focus, even at intersections where there are signals.
"It's quite dangerous. I have had several narrow misses from being hit by cars that jump the signal near Adyar junction. It's easier to walk on these roads in the night since there is less traffic," said Vishaka, a resident of Adyar.
"Damaged footpaths make things worse, especially for elderly citizens who often struggle or sometimes fall on these paths," she added.
Rajeev, a businessman from Porur, highlighted how money spent to address the problems too is of little help on many occasions.
"Although there is a lot of development happening when it comes to city roads, maintenance is lacking. The authorities have to look into this aspect. There should also be civic sense among the citizens," he said.
Indeed, projects worth several crores of rupees have been okayed to improve the roads and make them pedestrian-friendly, but commuting, particularly for the poor, continues to be difficult.
In fact, the Greater Chennai Corporation, on paper, is said to maintain 471 bus route roads over a length of 387 km and 34,640 interior roads over a length of 5,270.33 km.
But the warmth Singara Chennai shows to people from all walks of life and regions is certainly not to be found on its roads.
The accessibility challenge
It doesn't help that authorities entrusted with the job of finding a solution to the city's roads problem have overlooked the need to make pedestrian infrastructure accessible to all.
While the Chennai Metro—with its Braille station maps, tactile paths, hearing induction loops and wheelchair-accessible spaces across stations— and the Metropolitan Transport Corporation—with its low-floor buses—promote accessibility, you walk into a less-sensitive world once you deboard public transport.
If any footpaths exist, they are far from accessible.
“One of the better examples in the city is Marina Beach, which is a levelled, wide space, mostly free of disruptions, but this is not the case elsewhere in the city. Power cables, bollards, police booths and encroachments by shops and restaurants all act as disruptions to an accessible footpath,” said Satish Kumar, a member of the Disability Rights Alliance and a full-time automated wheelchair user.
He added that even if ramps are provided in some bus stops, they are often steep, putting users in need of supported walking in a fix. They are forced to use the road and exposed to the risks of high-speed traffic.
"If the GCC takes up our accessibility concerns in their new project to build 200 km of footpaths at Rs 200 crore, it will be very helpful without needing to make any changes in the future. Any infrastructure built for PwDs usually results in benefiting the society at large," he went on to add.
Numbers Chennai cannot be proud of
With such being the challenges, it comes as no surprise that pedestrian fatalities in Tamil Nadu have increased by 20-40 per cent.
This is according to a study conducted by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), which cited the state government's Road Accidents Report 2019-'23. The rise in the numbers in Chennai might be steeper.
"In Chennai, violations on the street, such as jumping signals and wrong-side driving, are rampant. Accidents involving pedestrians using footpaths are also common when two-wheelers use footpaths to dodge traffic. This brings in the need for efficient enforcement from the city corporation and the traffic police," said AV Venugopal, Programme Manager for Healthy Streets at the ITDP.
He added that pedestrian crossings are where accidents often happen.
"In many instances, signals across Chennai have been removed in favour of U-turns. A study found that 23% of road accidents involving pedestrians in Hyderabad occurred at U-turns. In Tamil Nadu, where 2/3rd of the population are walking, cycling or using public transportation, doesn't it make sense to keep them in mind when these spaces are designed?" he asked.
Another villain in the mix is the ongoing metro construction in all areas of the city.
The "Inconvenience today for a better tomorrow" approach of the Chennai Metro Rail Project has unleashed chaos of a high order across the city daily.
In many places, such as the OMR (Rajiv Gandhi IT Expressway), existing pedestrian infrastructure, such as Foot Overbridges (FOBs) to cross the six-lane highway, has been brought down to facilitate metro construction, leaving commuters in the lurch.
Service roads have also been merged with regular roads at many places to broaden them and make way for vehicles. It has only served to add to the woes.
Sowmya Kannan, a researcher for sustainable transportation with Citizen, Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG), said, "Removal of pedestrian infrastructure for the construction of a public transport project is a negative development. There are existing Indian Road Congress norms that need to be employed to avoid metro construction hurdles. Further, at-grade crossings such as traffic signals should be in place to facilitate smoother yet safer movement of pedestrians."
Venugopal also agrees.
"Following existing SOPs, where vehicles are re-routed during metro or other development projects, pedestrians also need to be provided barricaded covered spaces with adequate signage, which costs very little in an already multi-crore project," he added, underlining that this needs to be a priority before mishaps occur.
A grand dream that is now in tatters?
The nightmarish state of Chennai's roads has come to be despite the Chennai Corporation (now known as the Greater Chennai Corporation or GCC) being the first in India to adopt a Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) policy over ten years ago. The aim of the policy was to promote walkability and cycling within Chennai city.
A budgetary allocation of 60% from the transport budget towards constructing and maintaining infrastructure to bring this dream to fruition had been recommended.
And then there was that grand desire—to reduce the number of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities on Chennai roads to zero by 2018, as per an official document.
What has been achieved?
"Fast forward, today we have over 170 km of streets with footpaths developed between 2014 and 2019. The areas include Harrington Road, Police Commissioner Office Road, Egmore, Binny Road, NSC Bose Road and West Avenue. Further, the Pondy Bazaar Pedestrian Plaza, a stretch of 800 metres, was inaugurated as a model people-friendly space, while keeping the commercial nature of the street intact," said Venugopal.
The Pondy Bazaar Pedestrian Plaza was developed at a cost of Rs 39.86 crore.
The ideal pedestrian-friendly stretch?
Often touted as the Non-Motorised Transport policy ideal, the Pondy Bazaar Pedestrian Plaza, from Panagal Park to Thanikachalam Road Signal, was launched in 2019, transforming a two-way shopping street to a one-way street, prioritising pedestrians.
"As per an impact assessment we conducted, the feedback from citizens has been positive, and the need to create more footpaths has led to the recent budget announcement to develop 200 km of footpaths across the city. A walk through the plaza in the evening reflects a rise in sales, land value, and a sense of safety. Compared to the earlier stretch choked with vehicles, the current space is thriving," Venugopal added.
That said, not all users of this stretch, including Jaisingh, think that the implementation and maintenance have been flawless.
"Even though the government has spent crores to build Pondy Bazaar as a pedestrian-friendly space, there is a lack of civic sense needed for the space. The area is often littered and cars are parked in no-parking zones, even after the government has spent huge amounts to build the Multi-Level Car Parking (MLCP) facility here," he said.
"In the adjoining Ranganathan Street and Usman Road, walking has become chaotic, due to shops encroaching on the footpath. Even after repeated complaints on the GCC helpline, no action has been taken to remove these encroachments. The issue is further exacerbated by low-lying utility cables," he added.
CAG's Sowmya, too, agrees. "While it is pedestrian-friendly, street vendors were relocated to a complex built by the GCC. The lack of visibility of this complex has reduced pedestrian footfall, leading to dwindling sales for them. Further, due to a lack of enforcement, there are concerns with parking as well. Lesser street parking and disuse of the Multi Level Car Parking have transferred the burden of car parking to nearby residential areas."
She added that Chennai Unified Metropolitan Authority's upcoming parking policy could address these woes.
The dream of building 'Complete Streets'
The arrival of the Pondy Bazaar Pedestrian Plaza led to the birth of the Complete Streets Project, another experiment devoted to a better tomorrow.
The project aims to build city streets that have a lifespan of at least 30 years. By design, it prioritises walking, cycling and public transport use while being inclusive spaces for women, children, the elderly and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).
Characteristics of the Complete Street include wide and continuous footpaths, pedestrian crossings, conveniently designed bus stops, seating arrangements, ramps for accessibility, designated on-street parking, organised street vending and scaled carriageways.
These stretches will have dedicated ducts underground for electricity lines, telecommunication cables and gas pipelines and redesigned stormwater drains.
"The Complete Streets Project was launched in 2020 under the World Bank Chennai City Partnership Project, which is currently underway at key stretches," Venugopal said.
Works are currently progressing under this project, bringing together various departments that manage utilities, sewage, and stormwater drains, so that these roads are not dug up soon.
The roads Complete Streets is targetting include MC Road, Royapuram, Race Course Road, Guindy, and Tollgate Road, Thiruvottriyur.
KNK Road in Nungambakkam, taken up for development under the Complete Streets Project, is expected to be completed by August 25, 2025.
Similarly, the MC Road in Royapuram should be completed by December 2025, the Race Course Road, Guindy by May 2026 and Tollgate Road in Thiruvottriyur by May 2026.
The Harrington Road idyll and the problem it's facing
Another attempt at a solution that needs to be highlighted in the mostly well-maintained, wide pavements of Harrington Road in Chetpet.
The project, although not an official Complete Streets or NMT project, was an initiative of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), which took inputs from residents of the Harrington Road Association.
The maintenance of this stretch is currently undertaken by Urbaser, a private contractor under the civic body. The road follows many principles of Complete Streets, such as spacing for utility cables and has agreed on a compromise when it comes to the width of the road to accommodate a wider pavement.
Suhasini, a member of the Harrington Road Association, said, "People outside the association never understood the rationale behind wide pavements. This was done keeping in mind the numerous schools here. Further, we also kept the disabled in mind when submitting our designs to the GCC. Kerbside parking was also incorporated, but has turned out to be insufficient and paid parking is not feasible, as it is a residential street."
However, she added that maintenance of the road is turning out to be a hassle.
"Two-wheelers parking and riding along the footpath have forced us to place plant pots between the bollards. Further, granite slabs on the footpath are often damaged by the electricity board when they undertake various repairs, putting pedestrians at risk," she said.
The road ahead
What does the future then have in store for the city?
While the Complete Streets projects are set to change a few prominent localities, awaiting such a change to sweep across Chennai will take ages.
"Urban planners need to have an empathy-based approach as opposed to a vehicle-centric approach in designing public spaces. We also need to keep in mind those who do not have the privilege to walk around freely, like senior citizens or Persons with Disabilities, to enhance the pedestrian experience," said Gayatri, who visits the city often.
The GCC is taking efforts to maintain the existing 179 km of footpaths in the city and also develop new specialised footpaths under the recently implemented Chennai Comprehensive Mobility Plan.
"Presently, we are developing footpaths in school corridors, namely, Avvai Shanmugham Salai, Conran Smith Road and Padmavati Salai, keeping the safety of students in mind," the Bus Route Roads Superintending Engineer of the GCC said. "Further, we will also develop 200 km of footpaths at Rs 200 crore, in line with the announcement made during the Demands for Grants Assembly Session in March 2025."
He added that the GCC also plans to repair existing footpaths in the city by spending Rs 2367.14 lakh in two phases.
But that alone will not do.
"Apart from infrastructural development, enforcement in all forms, especially speed limits, is the immediate solution to reduce fatalities. This again needs to be paired with better public awareness, so that lives are not at stake on the road," CAG's Sowmya underlined.
Till then, Jaysingh and others will have to keep their eyes and ears wide open while staying surefooted all the time.