Petition Submitted to State Human Rights Commissioner

Kanthimathi Kannan
The Right to Walk Foundation
12-2-709/A/22, Karol Bagh Colony
Hyderabad -500028

Aug 28, 2009

Respected Honourable Justice
Greetings!!
The Right to Walk Foundation is an NGO campaigning for Pedestrian Safety in the city of Hyderabad.
Pedestrian Crossings:

We have been filing petitions from May 15, 2008 with both with the GHMC and the Police Department requesting them to put up manned pedestrian crossings. We have given specific locations for a 4 km- stretch as a starting action location. So far no action has been initiated. In fact all we get is an oral response stating that action will be taken.

Ownership and responsibility of footpaths:

From Dec 2007, we have filed RTIs with the GHMC to check the ownership of footpaths from Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital to Nanal Nagar Chaurastha. Finally in Nov 2008, almost a year after the original RTI was filed the GHMC accepted the responsibility of the aforesaid footpaths. But again in Jan 2009, have stated in a letter that the footpaths are being maintained by GHMC because of VIP movement but they belong to the Roads and Buildings Department. In March we have filed a petition at the State Information Commissioner’s Office regarding the issue.

Parking Issues:
Most corporate retail outlets in the twin cities do not have adequate parking facilities. We have been filing petitions from February 1, 2008 with the GHMC and later with the Police that parking on Footpaths should be prohibited. Even after a year, the issue is still unresolved. There is a minimum parking requirement as per the government order passed in March 2006 but it is not implemented.
Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
AP Traffic Police Data for the city of Hyderabad: Pedestrian Casualties in 2007: 263 Died and 2047 Injured. It seems as though the pedestrian in Hyderabad has NO RIGHT TO LIFE. People walk with a lot of tension and are unable to cross the road because of lack of manned pedestrian crossings.
Article 13: Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
A pedestrian is unable to walk freely because of the various hurdles on the sidewalks; the lack of manned pedestrian crossings is a death trap for the pedestrians.
Article 23: Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
The poorest of poor is unable to walk to his/ her place of work and thus is deprived of the Right Choice Of Livelihood.
Article 25: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
The people living in the vicinity of the arterial roads are subject to ever increasing pollution and the authorities have not been able to implement the recommendations by the Integrated Environmental Strategies. (Study For the City Of Hyderabad, Prepared by the Environment Protection Training and Research Institute, (EPTRI), April 2005.)
The health of the people seems to have taken a back seat for the authorities.

Particularly near Rhythu Bazaar, Mehdipatnam, the footpaths are urinated and women in particular find it an affront to their dignity to see the men relieve themselves. Such unhygienic conditions also lead to dengue and other deadly diseases.
Article 26: Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
How can the children access the schools? The absence of proper access paths has made it difficult to go safely to the schools and thus might be one of the reasons for increasing drop rate of children.
THE SAD FACTS
One Road Accident Occurs every Two minutes: Ministry of Home Affairs

* India has only 1 percent of the world's vehicles, accounts for nearly 6 percent of the total cases of unintentional injuries caused by vehicles: WHO
*Perhaps saddest of all, Pedestrians make up the vast majority of victims. The World Bank estimates that 55 percent of Indian pedestrians become victims of road crashes at some point in their lives.
*In terms of mortality per 10,000 vehicles, the rate in India is as high as 14 compared to less than two in developed countries. The cost of road crashes has been assessed at one to two per cent of GDP in developed countries. A study by the Planning Commission in 2002 estimated the social cost of road accidents in India at Rs.55, 000 crore annually (2000 prices), which constitutes about 3% of the GDP. (Gross Domestic Product)
*The World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention released by the World Health Organization on the World Health Day (7th April, 2004) has highlighted that nearly 12 lakh people are known to die each year in road accidents globally. Keeping in view the increasing global concerns about the growing impact of road traffic accidents, the United Nation General Assembly and World Health Organization have declared the year 2004 as the year of road safety. In India alone, about 1 lakh of people die each year.
*The Report talks about the need to protect women, children, senior citizens, disabled persons and pedestrians in matter relating to road safety and traffic management.


Source: REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON ROAD SAFETY and TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT, February, 2007




The relief that we pray for from the SHRC is as follows:

1. Demarcate footpaths and make “Zero Tolerance of Footpath Encroachment” as a Mantra. This should be started as soon as possible.
2. Start having manned pedestrian crossings and ensure that it is pedestrian friendly. Crossing the road is a nightmare and many people use an auto to cross the road.
3. Ensure that all Retail Outlets clearly write on a board the parking facility available for the outlet and also a toll free number that gives the public a right to call and complain regarding the parking problem.
4. There should be a day in the week where all government employees are to use either non-motorised transport or public transport to come to the office.
5. Ensure that footpaths are free from litter and people should not urinate on them. The government needs to realise that it is a health hazard and needs to take steps immediately to rectify the problem.
6. Finally ensure that the GHMC has a Pedestrian Safety Cell. This cell is headed by at least a Spl Commissioner. We feel that unless a single authority takes charge of the pedestrian issues, there are going to be no solutions for the issues raised. Presently there are 4/ 5 departments with GHMC itself to deal with footpaths and pedestrian crossings. Each department decides the fate of the footpath on its own.

Pedestrian Police is a MUST.

THOSE WHO WALK CANNOT DECIDE AND THOSE WHO DECIDE DO NOT WALK.
(Please help us reverse this trend)


Yours Sincerely
Kanthimathi Kannan
Founder President of the Right to Walk Foundation