As roads in Indian cities are getting increasingly clogged with vehicular traffic, a campaign has been launched to promote walking, cycling and bus rides.Run by the Doordarshan and the Union Ministry of Development, the campaign “Traffic? Ab bus karo” highlights how vehicular population is choking roads in cities, leaving hardly any room for walkers or cyclists. Actor Rahul Bose has joined the campaign which also focuses on how the public transport system is being neglected because of the car-centric approach adopted by cities while creating transport infrastructure. The name of the month-long campaign, running on DD news channel and social media platforms, is a pun to drive home the point that traffic should be reduced on the roads by promoting walking, cycling and bus journey, S M Khan, Director General of DD News, told PTI. The above piece is an excerpt from a PTI report on the new initiative launched through the national television Channels and other forms of social media to spread awareness on the growing pressures and drawbacks of the ever increasing vehicular traffic in the country and to promote walking, cycling, use of public transport etc. The problem in the State is no less serious. The small capital is already experiencing frustrating traffic jams and undue delays, and the problem is bound to increase with each passing day. In India around 140,000 people die in road accidents each year. Vehicles are also the biggest polluter as they contribute around 70 per cent of air pollution in the country. The National Urban Transport Policy has advocated for giving priority to non-motorised forms of transport. At present, cars occupy around 90 per cent of the road space while carrying only 10 per cent of the passenger load. The initiative, though seemingly trivial, stores a lot of promise and potential, a panacea to a variety of social inconveniences and, to a certain point, a healthier change in lifestyle and fiscal manners. Yet to effect the desired change, a systematic plan needs to be put in place, which is absolutely absent at present in the state. Walking lanes, cycle lanes and parking bays with locking facilities for cycles, pedestrian crossing points at busy intersections, subways to minimize accidents while crossing and proper waiting sheds with toilet facilities are the need of the hour. Also, the traffic lights could do with a little more colour other than the perennially blinking orange. And developing these necessary infrastructures, in a place like Imphal, to begin with, should not be a big deal, a political will and motivation more likely to be the constraint rather than the financial aspect of it. Supporting and collaborating with the existing groups like the walking club and Manipur Cycle Club in the state could convert the campaign into a viable and healthier option of transportation. The Government and all its related departments should pursue this campaign with fervor and zeal as it will take away a lot of the present and pressing problems from its hands. If and when it happens, the meandering queues of vehicles in front of gas stations, the unbearably slow traffic at most intersections, the risky dash across roads, and most importantly, the increasing makeshift kiosks selling extremely adulterated vehicular fuel will be a thing of the past.
