Soon, old Delhi railway station will be better accessible by Public Transport modes

Source: Indian Express, Delhi Edition

HC ropes in agencies to decongest Chandni Chowk

Who is congesting Chandni Chowk? Vehicles or human beings? Twelve cycle-rickshaws ferrying people around, or 23 huge parked cars serving only one shopkeeper a day??
[Photo courtesy Nipesh Narayan, Assistant Professor, Sushant School of Architecture]

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Friday expressed concern over congestion in the thickly populated Chandni Chowk area and roped in two agencies to chart a plan to solve the problem.

A Special Bench dealing with traffic problems turned its attention to Chandni Chowk and asked UTTIPEC and the Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation to suggest ways in which the area can be decongested after carrying out a study.

Meanwhile, almost a month after being rapped for keeping the multi-level parking facility in Chandni Chowk closed, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) on Friday told the HC it will become functional next month.

Assuring a special bench of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice S Muralidhar that the parking will decongest the crowded area, the corporation said it plans to re-start the facility soon. It was answering HC's query on why the ready-to-use multilevel parking facility in the area is closed, though it had been inaugurated twice.

The court also refused to grant more than two weeks time to the corporation to start the process of registering over 7 lakh cycle rickshaws plying in the city. Rejecting the NDMC's plea to grant more time, the bench made it clear the process must start in next two weeks ort else the commissioner will be held accountable.

HC had earlier cleared the decks for smooth registration of cycle rickshaws and quashed a rule of the erstwhile MCD that insisted on an address/identification proof from the owners, after activists complained it had resulted in harassment of the poor.

Lifting its stay on the policy and operation of the civic agency for registration of cyclerickshaws HC had said it shouldn't insist on ID proof in the application form for issuing licences. The petitioners in the case, Manushi, argued that information sought in the form is irrelevant and objectionable.

Unhappy with the criteria established by the corporation for registration of the vehicle and issuance of licence, Manushi had also cited an example, "The application form for registration seeks whether the applicant is suffering from tuberculosis (TB) and for how many years he has been staying in the city."

The special bench constituted to monitor the capital's pilot project for non-motorised vehicles (NMV), including cycle rickshaws on city roads, had earlier stayed the policy and asked the corporation not to implement the policy till it incorporates certain changes. It had also asked the corporation to reconsider its decision of charging the annual fee of Rs 25 for renewal of the licence for cycle rickshaws.

Source: TOI, Delhi Edition, 15.12.2012

Stop harassing rickshaw-pullers over ID proof: HC

NEW DELHI: In a significant judgment upholding the right to livelihood of rickshaw-pullers, the Delhi High Court on Monday asked civic agencies and police not to harass them by insisting on Delhi residence proof.


The court said that cycle rickshaws were indispensable in the present public transport scenario of the Capital. The fact that a majority of rickshawpullers were migrants was taken note of by the judges.


Manushi Sangathan, the NGO which raised the issue, told the court that hapless rickshawpullers faced the biggest harassment at the hands of the law enforcement agencies on this account.


“Rickshaws are indispensable for providing link transport to innumerable users of public transport. Given the unprecedented growth of residential colonies, a large section of the middle-class population which commutes by buses, trains and the Metro, is dependent on cycle rickshaws for further journey to their homes and places of work,” said justice S Muralidhar and justice S Ravindra Bhat, while dismissing the MCD plea that rickshaw-pullers should be compulsorily made to furnish Delhi residence proof.


The plea that they could be a security threat was also rejected by the court which said “rickshaw-pullers by themselves cannot constitute a security risk”.


“Most rickshaw-pullers are migrants from other states and are unlikely to have any proof of residence in Delhi. They are mostly homeless, having to either sleep on the rickshaw itself or use the city’s pavements for a night’s rest. The more fortunate ones may be able to find some space in a jhuggi cluster on a temporary basis,” said the court.


“In present circumstances, the insistence on proof of residence from rickshaw pliers as a condition for the grant of registration or licence would undoubtedly cause them further harassment and create a barrier for them to obtain either,” said the court.


Noting that rickshaw-pullers “literally” live in the open, the judges said, “It is not difficult for the police, if it makes a concerted effort, to trace any rickshaw-puller.

Source: Hindustan Times  (11 Dec 2012)

UTTIPEC at WALKABILITY FORUM: Better Air Quality and Livable Cities

Mr.Ashok Bhattacharjee, Director, UTTIPEC delivers the key note address

http://cleanairinitiative.org/portal/node/8461

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cai-asia/sets/72157630266819674/

Mr Ashok Bhattacharjee, Director Planning, Member Secretary, UTTIPEC, who gave a keynote on UTTIPEC’s activities and successes in Delhi and set the tone for the ‘cities speak’ session said that the biggest deterrent in promoting  walkability is the land use planning which tends to adopt the western model of sprawl development. Providing more road space will only induce vehicular growth and movement. According to their study, solutions lie by addressing:

1)   Last mile connectivity with public transport

2)   Multi-modal integration

3)   Transit oriented development

4)   Efficient Street Design for comprehensive street design guidelines

5)   Public outreach programs to garner public opinion.

6)   Clear policy, guidelines and projects for Integrating Urban land Use and Transport should be established

7)   Sorting conflicts between parking space and pedestrian space.

8)   Providing Pedestrian facilities like crossings – e.g. IRC guidelines recommend crossover every 200m; however, cities usually provides >500m

10) Lack of benchmarking for pedestrian facilities is the problem that needs to be addressed.

Full Report: http://cleanairinitiative.org/portal/sites/default/files/agenda/CAI_Asia_walkability_forum_report_.pdf