Bandra residents voluntarily surveyed 7.1 km of the roads in their vicinity and found 80 per cent of the roads dug up for various reasons, and 75 per cent of these roads were unsafe. Residents further discovered that only 10 per cent of the footpaths are walkable and the information on the barriers were not matching with the work being done. A few citizens and activists discussed the findings of the Bandra Walkability Survey on Saturday and unanimously agreed to take this to the BMC, and policymakers so that a practical infrastructure could be planned. 

Sonal Alvares, one of the active residents, with the help of Jacob Kohn, an enthusiastic city planner, started work in December with the help of eight other residents-turned-volunteers. Jacob Kohn is an urban planner and data scientist from Washington DC.  “The survey was conducted after we finished our daily work and it took two months to complete,” said Sonal. In a presentation on Saturday at the St Paul Institute of Communication Education in Bandra West, Kohn explained the methodology of survey and the findings. The survey shows that out of 7.1 km long road survey, 80 per cent of roads and narrow pathways are dug up by various city planning authorities.