Ah, India, where roads are not a way to get from here to there. Roads are here and there. Roads are slept on, walked on, spat on in India. Roads are used to store and winnow the rice crop, to dry acres of red chillies, to milk the family cow. Roads serve as temporary shops. Not only is every type of transportation found on every road, but every kind of living thing. Goats and ducks are shepherded in front of screeching buses. Elephants stop dutifully at the red lights and water buffalo meander aimlessly and fearlessly.
Indeed, guidelines exist, but like guarded secrets, they are known only by the initiated. To create awareness, Maruti Suzuki, in collaboration with the Times Network introduced a comprehensive India Road Safety Index in 2017 rating 10 cities across India on key parameters like motor laws, traffic control, people safety, pedestrian rights, lighting & maintenance, heavy vehicle management, cleanliness, etc. The study threw up some surprising findings.
Raipur is famous for more than just being the rice bowl of India! One of India’s smaller cities, it ranks surprisingly high in terms of adequacy of pedestrian provisions, subways and over-bridges and pedestrian initiatives such as no-car zones and street events.
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