Pedestrian nightmare at Shankar Chowk: Let’s walk the talk, employees ask cops

We pray before crossing Shankar Chowk’, ‘Pedestrians need a safe Shankar Chowk’ and other placards made for an interesting sight as employees and a few of their employers marched alongside Gurgaon Police Commissioner Alok Mittal on Wednesday morning. The march started at Exit 1 of IndusInd Bank Rapid Metro Station and ended at Shankar Chowk in front of the HSIIDC building.The employees’ message was a simple one – there is no place to walk and crossing Shankar Chowk is a nightmare. The bosses, on the other hand, talked about the larger issues of active commuting and sustainable growth for Gurgaon.
The problem at hand
If you’ve been to Shankar Chowk recently, you’ll probably be familiar with the sight of harassed pedestrians, who have to suffer the cramped spaces and oncoming traffic, to reach their offices in nearby areas like Udyog Vihar and Cybercity. Pankaj Kumar, who works at EmployWise in Udyog Vihar, told us, “We cross this road every day. The Traffic Police is there, but nobody is interested in helping the pedestrians cross the road.“Traffic is never stopped for the people waiting to cross the road, and sometimes, it takes us about 10-15 minutes just to cross the road. Plus, there is no underpass and there is hardly any place to walk on the road either,” adds Pankaj Kumar. Digvijay Singh, who works at Teleperformance, said, “During peak hours, walking on this road and crossing it is almost impossible. For those of us who are provided with cabs, it’s a social responsibility to still be present to improve the society.”
The bigger picture
While this problem has an immediate effect on employees who have to cross the unsafe path on a daily basis, employers say they realize that it’s a problem that they must all tackle together. Nitin Seth, Chair NASSCOM Regional Council and MD Fidelity Worldwide Investments, told GT, “When you look at this area, the problem is right in front of your eyes. The road, even though it’s wide enough, is jam-packed with cars, and there is hardly any place for pedestrians. Companies that are based in Udyog Vihar and Cybercity have to suffer because of this and it is a big issue. Also, it’s not just the immediate problem at hand – we also need to look at the bigger picture for sustainable growth. We provide cabs to our employees, but merely increasing the number of cabs is not a sustainable option. What we are doing today is an initiative of both the employers and employees. Walking is a critical part of your journey when you’re using public transport. If busy crossings like this one can be organized and made safer for pedestrians, it will increase the number of people who can use the Metro as their primary mode of transport.”
Commissioner’s walk
The Gurgaon police commissioner took a walk at Shankar Chowk, hearing the plight of the pedestrians and at the same time, planning what can be done to improve the condition of the area. The commissioner told GT and his team, “Right now, the traffic is haywire and the condition looks bad, with almost zero walking space for pedestrians, due to the construction work in the area. The best option for now would be to put ropes and make a separate corridor for pedestrians. Also, morning and evening rush hours need more of our people here. We will get to work on this right away, put in our efforts the entire day, and tomorrow morning we will have a trial run.”