Look, Andheri has footpaths!

Vedant Mhatre, of the Walking Project, measures the height of the footpath outside the garden. Pic/Jyoti Punwani

Andheri residents don't walk. They just go from point A to point B, eyes firmly on the ground to avoid loose paver blocks on pavements, or, always looking over their shoulder to avoid traffic when the lack of pavements forces them on to the road. Thus it was a discovery that broad footpaths actually exist in this overcrowded suburb. A discovery made possible only because it was a Sunday, the only day Vedant Mhatre and his team from the Walking Project can take groups of inveterate walkers around specific neighbourhoods to see how pedestrian-friendly they are.

Andheri is definitely not friendly. Even early on a Sunday, despite the broad pavements leading to the station being free of hawkers, the few commuters hurrying by preferred to walk on the road, thanks to the unrelenting barricades that fence all footpaths. When a pavement is the exception rather than the rule, as it is in Andheri, who has the time to look for a break in those barricades to step on to safety?

There's also the small but important factor, especially for senior citizens, of the pavement's height. In Andheri, their edges are a step too high. Then there are the curved bus stops and kiosks which force walkers on to the road. In Andheri at least, as we found in those two hours walking from the railway station to the D N Nagar Metro station, you can hardly blame pedestrians for ‘jay-walking'. Walking in this one suburb is enough to understand why 50 per cent of Mumbaikars who die in road accidents are pedestrians.

Vedant informed us that Manhattan has almost the same population density as Mumbai. Yet, Manhattan is best discovered on foot, thanks to its broad pavements. Not so Mumbai - except when its town planners want it. So, you have wide footpaths below all Metro stations, to accommodate their staircase/escalator exits. Why can't such pavements be a norm to accommodate ordinary Mumbaikars, 55 per cent of who walk to work?

Andheri is currently the centre of all metro lines. Walking on the roads under the metro stations can drive you deaf; even on a Sunday, without the sound of traffic, we had to shout to be heard. There's technology available to block that sound, but will the MMRDA spend money on it?

A lot of people need to spend all day on the road for their work. Where do they rest? Most parks close between 10 am and 5 pm. We found a well-kept municipal garden that's open all day. Only thing was, to reach it, we had to cross a traffic junction devoid of a pedestrian crossing; on working days, vehicles zoom by from all sides. Then, to enter the garden, we stepped on to a high pavement which had an open sewer on one side. The inside, though, was soothing. Imagine if gardens had many entrance and exit points, said Rishi Aggarwal, founder of the Walking Project.

Walk-through gardens; broad, low, unbarricaded and well-maintained footpaths; traffic junctions with pedestrian crossings and enough time to cross - all these need not be a fantasy. All we need to do to make the BMC and the MMRDA change their focus from cars to us is to strengthen movements like the Walking Project.