Red or green, all’s the same for them

Good times never last. Alas, they never do. For if they did, nothing would ever go wrong in our lives; a smooth sail it would be. Same can be said about the roads in the city. Infamous as the ‘killer roads’ and ‘mean streets’, Delhi roads are fine for a while before there is a freak accident and they gobble up one human life after the other. But then one can’t blame the streets for it. The ones using them ought to take the responsibility for the same.It was in last December when a drive against jaywalkers was initiated by the Delhi Traffic Police under Section 28 of Delhi Police Act. Under this anybody found crossing the intersections without the traffic signal turning red were fined by the police. They were fined only Rs 20 and had to appear before a magistrate who could fine them up to Rs 100. The police made sure they verified the address of the offender with his or her I-card.

The drive on, suddenly workaholic Delhiites had to apply a brake to their maddening ritual of crossing intersections amidst busy traffic and learnt to wait patiently. The much touted drive was in news for a week. Later it fizzled out. But it did make pedestrians mind their road sense. For once, they were seen crossing roads only when the traffic signal turned red and all vehicles came to a stop right before the zebra crossing.

Less than a year since then, things have got back to ‘normal’. Yes normal; for the Delhiites, normal probably amounts to being indisciplined. The rule remains in effect, the policemen are right there but the pedestrians still cross the busy crossings, risking their lives and the eagle eyes of the cops wander conveniently. Though Rupinder Kumar, DCP Traffic (South), affirms that around three T-points in each of the 17 circles in the Southern Range have pedestrians being challaned for jaywalking, how many really know about it or care for such rules. Be it the busy Sant Nagar crossing or Nehru Place or the scene right outside Select Citywalk mall where people climb the huge divider to cross the heavy traffic and then to the other side to get an auto. Same scene outside Ansal Plaza. All this while the policemen stand right there, looking. At times it is the policemen themselves who flout the rules that they are in charge of implementing. Says Padma Nair, a resident of Sant Nagar and working at ITO, “The traffic signals at most of the intersections take so long to turn red. By that time, we would be at our office. How long can we wait?” Ask the authorities as to what would make such drives successful and they say that it has to be a two-way process. “People need to understand that it is for their own safety that such rules are there. But then you can’t expect them to follow rules if there is no infrastructure to support their cause. For instance, the only way one can get to the other side of the road at Dhaula Kuan is by taking a turn under the flyover. There is no underpass or FOB to facilitate them. You need to provide support structure too,” explains Kumar.