Gurgaon ko car bina chain kahaan re

Gurgaon had campaigned for its first Car Free Day with a lot of hope. But on Tuesday, though some car-free stretches had smooth traffic, the others, especially Cyber City, were as jam-packed as ever.
This Tuesday, Gurgaon got added to the list of hundreds of cities and towns globally that celebrated World Car Free Day, and in the middle of all the criticism and encouragement, the Millennium City was all set to kick-start its day, right from 7:30 in the morning.But wait, did you say car-free? Because if there was anything on the roads on Gurgaon's first Car Free Day, it was a whole lot of cars - thousands of them. The few Gurgaonwallahs who got their bicycles out expecting to see the roads devoid of cars, found themselves in a completely different scenario. Eager to ride on the cycling lanes they've fought all this while to be introduced in the city, they were disappointed to see not even a few cyclists to give a high five to on their way to work.
'Motorists need to be educated'
While cycling today, I saw that one feels vulnerable. Motorists don't respect the rights of pedestrians and cyclists. That's also because we don't have a dedicated cycling lane. We have to educate the motorists. People have to understand that we can lead, but they have to follow. I want to make this a regular feature, but we will decide on the basis of the day's learnings and will work on the shortcomings
- Navdeep Singh Virk,
Commissioner of police, Gurgaon
Cyber City
Of the four key areas that were meant to be car free corridors for the day, Cyber City proved to be the biggest disappointment. Except for no illegally parked cars, the entire loop was as jam-packed as usual. It took a good 30 minutes, not very surprising for Cyber City's traffic conditions, to finish the loop. Corporate employees told us that the lack of public transport was a huge deterrent.
Kapil, who had taken an auto from his Sector 31 residence to his office, said, "I was thinking that the autowallah would ask me for a higher price but he wasn't aware that it was a car-free day. Usually, I drive my car but today I opted for public transport. But it seems like it will take a long time before the concept catches up here. I am seeing the same number of cars entering Cyber City so it seems that people want a better infrastructure and facilities before they warm up to this. "
Ankit, a corporate employee, said, "I am in the sales department and it's not feasible for me to take the public transport every time I go out for meetings. I stay in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, and it takes me two hours by the Metro and only 1.5 hours by road."
Meena, an employee of DSM Sinochem, had decided to carpool with a friend and come to work but she said that carpooling was an exception. "My friend and I decided to come together today but I see more cars than usual today. Companies had said that employees would be provided parking today. Maybe that's why people thought that since parking wouldn't be a problem, why not take their car out!"
The usual number of cars even left the RSOs a little disappointed but they said that the absence of wrongly parked cars was a good sign.
RSO Vedant Kaushal told us, "I have been patrolling the area with traffic constables. We saw a lot of people bringing their cars. It will take time for people to stop taking their cars. There were no cars parked on the Cyber City loop which is a start in the right direction."
Udyog Vihar Electronic City
At the second car free corridor, which was Udyog Vihar Electronic City, the traffic situation was similar to Cyber City's, though illegally parked cars were being towed here.
A traffic constable posted near Hotel Oberoi told us, "Hamaare bade afsar aaj cycle par chal rahe hain lekin humein kuch khaas fark nahi dikh raha. Log gaadiyaan leke aa rahe hain. Lekin aaj pehli baar yeh din celebrate ho raha hai toh shaayad logon ko pata nahi hai. Hum log abhi tak seven-eight gaadiyaan tow kar chuke hain. Inhe Sector 21 ki parking mein leke gaye hain. Wahaan par logon ko aakar challan bharna hoga aur phir hi gaadi milegi."
While gurgaon at least tried, Delhi didn't even attempt it People don't follow such things voluntarily: Delhi traffic Police
Gurgaon might have taken a lead in starting the concept of car-free day but Delhi Traffic Police, it seems, isn't too convinced with this. When we asked Muktesh Chander, special commissioner of police (Traffic), Delhi, whether such a concept is doable in Delhi, he said, "These things don't happen voluntarily. Nobody abandons cars by themselves. Either the situation should become like Singapore where executive orders are issued that today, only the cars with odd number plates or even number plates will ply. That immediately brings down the number of vehicles by half. But then, how long can you continue to do this? Why can't we cap the number of vehicles? In Singapore, buying a vehicle is the most expensive exercise. You get another vehicle only if the car you already own is completely damaged. Then there are places where people are allowed to get their cars registered only after they furnish proof that they have bought parking space near their home and in office. If we ask people to do things voluntarily, that doesn't happen. People don't wear helmets even though it's for their own safety. So why would they take to something like this? I think in Delhi, we won't think of doing something on these lines, because there is no corporate culture here and people won't be ready to comply."
The fourth key car-free area was the stretch from Sikandarpur to Golf Course Road. To see Golf Course Road with fewer cars on the road came as a huge surprise and relief for commuters. During peak hours, the stretch always has crawling traffic. There wasn't a single car parked on the roadside at the Genpact crossing, which usually has a large number of cars parked on the roadside. Namrata Sharma, a commercial account manager at a UK-based company, told us, "Normally, this stretch is full of cars and you have to be very careful even when you are entering your office building. I left my car at home today and walked to work. If I had taken my car, I would have reached in five minutes because the road was empty. But even walking didn't take much time. I wish it would stay like this every day."
The third car-free corridor was the stretch from Huda City Center to Subhash Chowk. A sub inspector told us they had already towed over 10 vehicles for illegal parking with the help of three tow trucks that were assigned for that area, and challaned about 20-25 traffic defaulters by 10am itself. Alok Sahu, a business consultant told us, "I heard there will be public transportation for easy commute but I don't see any connectivity from my house to my workplace. So I had to get my car to work."
Navdeep Singh Virk, commissioner of police, Gurgaon, remained hopeful about the outcome of the whole exercise. "The measure of success is determined by the number of people who volunteer. We can only provide a forum or an umbrella to engage with people. We can lead, but people have to follow. If we do this once in 15 days or once in a month, more people will associate with it and the momentum will build up. We will learn from this time and we will work on the shortcomings for the next time," he told us. Virk, who started his day by cycling around the HUDA City Centre Metro Station, added, "Today, I cycled around the city. I feel that apart from the three-four months when the weather is bad, one can cycle to work. Also, when you're cycling, you feel vulnerable as motorists don't respect the rights of pedestrians and cyclists. That's also because we don't have a dedicated cycling lane. But all that will take some time. We have to educate motorists and this has to be dealt with with maturity. I am keen on making this a regular feature."
But at Unitech Cyber Park, which falls in this stretch, the impact of Car Free Day was visible, thanks to the corporate crowd, which chose to travel to work on cycles and shuttle buses. "Even though you see a lot of cars, at least the traffic is moving. The entrance to Cyber Park itself is always jam-packed, but today, the vehicles are moving without stopping. Also, buses used to be parked at a distance from here, but today you'll see these buses full of people in this area. So, people are aware and have voluntarily opted for public transport. A lot of my colleagues turned up to office on cycles," Naresh Tuteja, a senior executive at Fidelity, told us. Another employee of Fidelity, Manoj Yadav, said, "People had this image that they won't see a single car on the roads today. But that wasn't the idea.
They were encouraged to switch to public transportation for a day, which they did, and the proof is the moving traffic and less number of cars on the roads. You'd be surprised to know that a lot of foreign delegates came in shuttle buses today. They've left their cars home. I used to be stuck for 15 minutes every morning at the entrance of this junction. But today, I entered the premises in less than 10 seconds, which is a great start. I think the corporate crowd especially is more aware of the initiative and it will slowly spread."
Commenting on the condition of the traffic and unused cycling lanes, RSO Kaeshika Dewani told us, "It will take some time for people to be aware of this. Not many people have been using the cycling lanes, and even I had to leave my cycle midway when my husband told me to go in the car itself. But I'm hopeful that coming Tuesdays will get better."