There is a saying in Hindi: “jaan hatheli pe” (fraught with risks). Same can be true when one dares to walk on city roads and expressways. Official data for the past year says one in five road accident deaths involved pedestrians. Footpath construction is the job of road agencies that are controlled by the state and civic administrations. And if they ever construct footpaths, it is also their duty to free them of encroachments, which is rampant. But the agencies hardly respect pedestrians, and so do the drivers of motorised vehicles. In such a gloomy scenario, the state transport department has come out with a campaign “walk on right” so that the people can assess the risk of incoming vehicles crashing into them.

The transport department is concerned about the deaths on roads, and it seems it cannot do much when other bigger and influential agencies that are more responsible to prevent accidents turn a blind eye. Transport Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar deserves kudos for raising the life-threatening issue, albeit in his own way, that civic activists have taken up time and again, only to end up in utter disappointment. For the government, be it state or local body, responding to such activism is a matter of lowest priority. Or else, their concern would have reflected in road designs, maintenance and protection of the citizens’ right to walk safely. Motorised mode of transport tops the system’s agenda. Human beings (and their pair of legs) have no place in the vision of transport development.