No subway here child, just walk across

NEW DELHI: Safety is the last thing that exists for people who visit the popular Children’s Park at India Gate. Nonstop traffic on the C-Hexagon forces children to sprint across the road to the park amid fast moving cars. Even taking a vehicle to the parking lot is equally hazardous for the same reasons.
There are no subways near the park. The reason being security cosiderations.However, nearly 15,000 people visit the park on weekends and between 5,000 to 7,000 weekdays, said the park’s security supervisor, Ram Pal.
Recognising the risk to pedestrians, deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi range) Arun Kampani said: ‘‘Subways to the park and India Gate are an absolute must. We had proposed to NDMC to make four subways around the C-Hexagon but nothing has happened so far.’’
NDMC spokesperson Madan Thapliyal said the civic agency had plans to make three subways, one each on Tilak Marg, Shahjahan Road and K G Marg. ‘‘But due to security reasons and some other factors, we haven’t got the clearance to make them,’’ he said.
A security supervisor at the park, Ram Pal, suggested that at least a traffic light and zebra crossing can be provided for at the intersection where Shahjahan Road joins the C-Hexagon. But Kampani rules this out.
‘‘We can’t impede the flow of traffic on this busy route. That will lead to chaos here,’’ he said. Accidents are commonplace here. ‘‘Very often vehicles have to screech to a halt as some visitor suddenly runs across the road. This leads to almost two to three minor collisions everyday,’’ said Pal. He complained that the park staffers also meet with accidents on the road routinely.
‘‘It becomes very difficult to exit the parking lot. There’s always a possibility of the approaching vehicle hitting us,’’ said Amit Lal, a frequent visitor from Lajpat Nagar.
The problem is compounded by the fact that maximum visitor come during peak traffic hours in the vening. ‘‘Once I and my friends had to wait at the road for half an hour before a traffic policeman came to our help and let us cross the road safely,’’ said 10-year-old Anshul Aggarwal.