The sun setting in Mumbai. Photo by d ha rm e sh.

Earlier this week, TheCityFix ran the first part of an interview with Krishnaraj Rao, a citizen turned activist, who now spends a significant portion of his day advocating for pedestrian rights in Mumbai. Through a movement called Sahasi Padayatri, Mr. Rao has been engaged in a variety of initiatives and non-violent agitations to improve conditions for pedestrians; he has demarcated lanes for pedestrians on streets where pedestrians compete with buses, cars and motorcycles due to the lack of walkable footpaths and he has dumped rubbish blocking pedestrian areas at the steps of local government office buildings to raise awareness of the obstacles facing pedestrians. Below is the second part of the interview.

How do you see your activities fitting into the larger environmental movement?

Sahasi Padyatri is essentially focused on creating a pedestrian-friendly and citizen-friendly environment. We believe that a preponderance of public transport and a diminished role of private transport is the way for our city to attain sustainability. We believe that public space is a precious resource that must be jealously guarded.

I set out in June 2007 as an activist against the various aspects of Economic Growthism that are causing global warming today, and addressed about 25 audiences until March on this topic at colleges, schools, Rotary Clubs etc.

In December, I met Santosh Jangam, who sells books on a train for a living. This meeting and our later association in creating the Sahasi Padyatri movement brought the realization that unless we could connect the anti-global-warming agenda to the interest of the common man, we were bound to strive in vain for a change that would stubbornly refuse to happen.

To me, the effort to render our city suitable for walking and peacefully commuting by public transport is co-terminus with making my world more energy-efficient and a cleaner, better place for all creatures and all species.

How is your organization using IT – cell phones, blogs, etc. – to organize and generate support?

For several months, I have been blogging on this issue, and on other issues related to climate change, at my blogsites. (You can read them here and here.)

I have networked furiously with several individuals and organizations late in 2007 and early in 2008. My intensity on the internet has abated only since February, when I stepped out of the cyber-world into meatspace.

I email close to a hundred concerned citizens, media persons and authorities with my communiques on pedestrian issues, and network furiously using SMS, mobile phone and phone for this purpose. I am happy that newspapers like DNA are supporting our campaign and publicizing our mobile number and email address, putting hundreds of like minded citizens in touch with us. Read the rest of this entry »

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Here Pedestrians hold back traffic after painting a sidewalk on the street. Photo from Friendlyghost.

Krishnaraj Rao lives in Borivli, a suburb of Mumbai known for its famous Sanjay Gandhi National Park, and, more recently, its residents who have taken to the streets demanding that pedestrians be treated with respect. Along with Mr. Santosh Jangam, a bookseller turned activist, Mr. Rao is the head of a movement called Sahasi Padayatri which is leading a grassroots campaign on behalf of pedestrian rights in Mumbai. Through this movement he has been engaged in a variety of initiatives and non-violent agitations to improve conditions for pedestrians; he has demarcated lanes for pedestrians on streets where pedestrians compete with buses, cars and motorcycles due to the lack of walkable footpaths and he has dumped rubbish blocking pedestrian areas at the steps of local government office buildings to raise awareness of the obstacles facing pedestrians. This weekend I had the chance to correspond with him by email. Below is the interview.

How have cars and motorbikes changed Mumbai’s streets?

Cars and motorbikes – especially the former – represent the prevalence of speed, brute force and money power in our society. They represent a constant threat to those who don’t have these vehicles, and subtly divide people into haves and have-nots. By virtue of being seated in an automobile, one feels one has a divine right to make hundreds of other people scurry out of his way as he approaches. I feel this mentality needs to be curbed for the good of society.

At what point did you realize that pedestrians were being forced off the roads? Has it been a long process, or has it happened rapidly?

Personally, realization of this fact dawned only in the past year, when, because of my concern about climate change, I began increasingly to leave my car parked and go out walking or using public transport.

But I do realize that this erosion of the pedestrians’ right to walk safely has been gradual over the past two decades. I recognize now that the motorist’s ability to honk a blaring horn and to subtly threaten to run down someone who obstructs him has skewed the balance. The pedestrian, by contrast, endlessly adjusts and modifies his path, peacefully yields the centre of the road to moving vehicles and the roadside to parked vehicles etc. The pedestrian rarely protests – and this has been his undoing. Read the rest of this entry »

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Photo by Lush.i.ous.

Joe Foti, a colleague of mine at WRI, just alerted me to a sprawling Wikipedia page on freeway revolts, a term referring to citizen efforts to stop freeway construction in their neighborhoods. In some cases the entry simply lists freeway projects that we’re “canceled, truncated or stalled” in a particular region. In other cases, it’s more thorough, providing detailed analysis of why residents opposed freeway construction and some of their efforts to stop it.

Click here to view the entry.

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Photo by Murat Suyabatmaz.

Biking in cities doesn’t have to be hazardous to your health. But in Istanbul, you must be extra careful. Besides traffic and air pollution – the usually problems faced by urban cyclists – Istanbul riders have to deal with flooded cycle paths, barbecues, trees, bushes, and garbage bins in cycle areas, and lack of bicycle parking.

But even with these problems there’s still reason to be excited about biking in Istanbul. Recently, Gizem Altin, a Turkish cycling advocate, organized Istanbul’s first ever symposium on urban cycling. In attendance was a representative from the city government who announced that Istanbul could have 101 km of dedicated bike lanes right away without any major structural changes, if the mayor were to give his support. The city official also talked about the city’s master plan for building 670 km of bike lanes. But alas, there is no time frame for such a project, an indication that it might never be implemented.

In the meantime, cycling in Istanbul continues to be an extreme sport. After the leap, check out the photo essay on biking in Istanbul by Murat Suyabatmaz, a Turkish cycling advocate who also attended the bike symposium. Read the rest of this entry »

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Via Dot Earth.

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An unusual calm on Bogota’s streets. Photo by Pattoncito from Flickr.

On Thursday, February 7 Bogotá held its 8th annual car-free day during which 14% of the population left their private cars at home and walked, cycled, and took mass transit to get around Colombia’s capital city. The car-free day is a bold effort to give people the chance of experiencing how nice the city could be without the 1.2 million private vehicles that ply Bogota’s streets every day. Following Bogota’s lead the car-free movement is spreading throughout the world, but still, this Andean city is the only one of its size that actually enforces its efforts, slapping $118 fines on any vehicle breaking the ban.

The Colombian newspaper EL TIEMPO reported a 45% reduction in carbon monoxide, an improvement attribute to the absence of private cars. This reduction, while important, was overshadowed by a 42% increase in particulate matter. Particulate matter is inorganic particles caused by diesel engines, brake and tire friction, wood burning factories using heavy fuels and coal, and forms indirectly in the air from SOx and NOX. Particulate matter has serious effects on the human respiratory system, and is especially harmful to children, the elderly and people with breathing problems. It is also one of the leading causes of bronchitis and asthma. At typical concentrations, particulate matter has approximately the same impact on human health as carbon monoxide. However, per equal mass emitted, it has between a 10 times (if its from brakes and tire friction) and 1000 times (if its from diesel engines and SOx) greater impact on human health than carbon monoxide.

For Bogotá, the really important question is whether the particulate matter which increased during car-free day was from brakes and tires or from diesel engines. If it was from breaks and tires then it will be removed quickly from the atmosphere, and we could argue unequivocally that car-free day improved human health. However, if it’s from diesel engines and Sox - as it is believed to be in the case of Bogota - then the increase in particulate matter may have outweighed the benefits from reduced levels of carbon monoxide. Read the rest of this entry »

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