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 hisday advocating for pedestrian rights in Mumbai. Through a movementcalled Sahasi Padayatri, Mr. Rao has been engaged in a variety ofinitiatives and non-violent agitations to improve conditions forpedestrians; he has demarcated lanes for pedestrians on streets wherepedestrians compete with buses, cars and motorcycles due to the lack ofwalkable footpaths and he has dumped rubbish blocking pedestrian areasat the steps of local government office buildings to raise awareness ofthe obstacles facing pedestrians. Below is the second part of theinterview.How do you see your activities fitting into the larger environmental movement?Sahasi Padyatri is essentially focused on creating apedestrian-friendly and citizen-friendly environment. We believe that apreponderance of public transport and a diminished role of privatetransport is the way for our city to attain sustainability. We believethat public space is a precious resource that must be jealously guarded.I set out in June 2007 as an activist against the various aspects ofEconomic Growthism that are causing global warming today, and addressedabout 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 aliving. This meeting and our later association in creating the SahasiPadyatri movement brought the realization that unless we could connectthe anti-global-warming agenda to the interest of the common man, wewere bound to strive in vain for a change that would stubbornly refuseto happen.To me, the effort to render our city suitable for walking andpeacefully commuting by public transport is co-terminus with making myworld more energy-efficient and a cleaner, better place for allcreatures 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 otherissues related to climate change, at my blogsites. {You can read them here and here.}I have networked furiously with several individuals andorganizations late in 2007 and early in 2008. My intensity on theinternet has abated only since February, when I stepped out of thecyber-world into meatspace.I email close to a hundred concerned citizens, media persons andauthorities with my communiques on pedestrian issues, and networkfuriously using SMS, mobile phone and phone for this purpose. I amhappy that newspapers like DNAare supporting our campaign and publicizing our mobile number and emailaddress, putting hundreds of like minded citizens in touch with us.What is your vision for India’s streets?I would like to see our roads become safe and convenient places forpedestrians through the following measures, which may seem harsh forprivate motorists and others:Roadside parking of vehicles to be totally banned, except forhandicapped persons’ vehicles. Even parking in building compoundsshould be banned, as the compound space belongs to all the residentsfor recreational purposes, particularly children and senior citizens.Parking should only be allowed in specially-constructed parking plazas.Roadside and footpath hawkers to be relocated to bazaar zones.Pavement width on both sides of the road to be at least 6 feet onall roads, and about 12 feet on high-footfall roads such as the onesleading to suburban railway stations.If any road is less than 15 feet wide, then it should be declaredas a no-vehicle zone, with exceptions for bicycles, handicappedvehicles, ambulances etc. Autorickshaws may be allowed entry only ifholders of senior-citizens or handicapped-persons’ passes are thepassengers. If a road is less than 32 feet wide, then it should have at leasttwo footpaths of 6 feet width, and the
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