A thought on Raahgiri

STREET :

As per Wikipedia “A street is a public thoroughfare (usually paved) in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. Originally the word "street" simply meant a paved road (Latin: "via strata")”.

USE OF STREET:

Transportation, is perhaps a street's most visible use, and certainly among the most important.
For better efficiency, different types of traffic should be segregated. This is usually done by carving a road through the middle for motorists, reserving pavements on either side for pedestrians.

Transportation is often misunderstood to be the defining characteristic, or even the sole purpose, of a street. This has not been the case since the word "street" came to be limited to urban situations, and even in the automobile age, is still demonstrably false. A street may be temporarily blocked to all through traffic in order to secure the space for other uses, such as a street fair, a flea market, children at play, filming a movie, or construction work.

Sidewalks or pavements are often located alongside on one or usually both sides of the street within the public land strips beyond the curbs. Sidewalks serve a traffic purpose, by making walking easier and more attractive, but they also serve a social function, allowing neighbours to meet and interact on their walks. An important element of sidewalk design is accessibility for persons with disabilities. Features that make sidewalks more accessible include curb ramps, tactile paving and accessible traffic signals.

Public space/ plaza:

A public space is an extension of the community. They serve as a stage for our public lives. If they function in their true civic role, they can be the setting where celebration are held, where social and economic exchanges take place, where friends run into each other and where culture mix. They add enhancement to the civic realm- not only visually, but also in providing a sense of character and a forum for public activities.

RAAHGIRI:

Raahgiri Day is India’s first sustained car-free citizen initiative that began in Gurgaon on Nov 17, 2013.
This is a unique concept where a section of a street or road is kept closed for cars, scooters and other automobiles for fixed hours. It is then open for the public exclusively for walking, jogging, cycling, skating, exercising etc.
RaahgiriDay is a weekly street event which provides citizens with the opportunity to reclaim their streets, connect with their community, celebrate their city and therefore reclaim their lives.

Concept origin:

The concept have been brought from Ciclovia concept.
Ciclovia means the closing of certain streets to automobiles and keeping it exclusively for cyclists and pedestrians, for a fixed period of time. The practice is also called ‘open streets.’

So raahgiri is basically about :

Public space
Pedestrian movement
Public activities
Raahgiri initially started in gurgoan, followed by Delhi (Connaught place) and then by other different cities.
The Connaught place of delhi is itself a urban public plaza, there it turn out to be one of the perfect destination for events like raahgiri without much hurdle.

But other places like Bhubaneswar due the fact of no such public plaza in city, it had to block one of its arterial road for the event for a particular period of time.
In Bhubaneswar the event take place from ram mandir till master canteen chowk, which is 1.4km.
Due to the event, vehicles has to reach mastercanteen from ram mandir via Madhusudan marg, sachivalaya marg and M.G marg, which makes the journey 2.7 KM, approximately double.
But on Sunday from 6 am.-9:30 am and now 6 am to 8:30 am (summer timing) with prior notice from the municipality and police shouldn’t make much trouble for others.

SUCCESS STORY:

A footfall of 40,000-70,000 have been recorded in Bhubaneswar raahgiri (on Sunday morning).
This clearly show how much people have loved the concept of raahgiri and it also speak about the demand for a permanent urban public space.

Pros of raahgiri:

• Promote Cycling, Walking and use of Public Transport
• Re-state and remind its citizens that the streets belong to the people
• Promote Healthy living by encouraging an active lifestyle
• Create an inclusive community and promote and facilitate social integration
• Promote and highlight the environmental issues / concerns
• Gives a platform for budding talents in the city.
• Promotes culture

Cons of raahgiri:

• It should be an experimental thing not a long run event.
• Government should understand the need of people and should full fill it
• A long run raahgiri is a solution for none.
• When the cooperation organise events like raahgiri to encourage pedestrian movement and public activities, it should first focus on its infrastructure and should try to develop it. Without providing proper infrastructure, raahgiri has got no meaning.

It is said that  Walking is the most preferable form of developing human interaction with urban environment. Pedestrian paths are the best context for urban life and provide longer presence of people in urban spaces.

 
 

P.S: present bhubaneswar sidewalk condition (below pic)

People those who are against raahgiri, its my request to not to discard a good concept rather demand a permanent space for such activities from government.

Reference:

Wikipedia

www.pps.org

@bmcbhubaneswar twitter account