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SUM Net Newsletter May 2017
SUM Net expresses disappointment over inclusion of provisions detrimental
to non-motorised transport users in the Road Safety Bill 2016.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Transport, Tourism and Culture in its report (Report 243) on the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2016, which has been tabled in the Parliament to help improve Road Safety, has recommended penalizing pedestrians and cyclists and restricting movement of non-motorised vehicles on highways and main roads of metro cities, labelling them as a hazard and nuisance to others.
Earlier a new Section 138(1A) was introduced in the Motor Vehicles Act to allow State Governments to make rules for non-motorized vehicles, which have so far not been under the ambit of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Parisar along with other civil society organisations and SUM Net members and experts have pointed out that this recommendation is totally contrary to the principles outlined in the National Urban Transport Policy 2006 and the recent AMRUT and Smart City guidelines which speak of promoting walking, cycling and exclusive lanes for non-motorised transport and encouragement of their use. Reacting to the proposal, Prof. Geetam Tiwari of IIT Delhi, an expert in urban mobility and road safety, stated that this would take the urban mobility agenda back 50 years. SUM Net member, Rishi Agarwal, who has launched The Walking Project in Mumbai, pointed out that cities can only be safer when adequate provisions are made for pedestrians and cyclists and not by banning or restricting them. Pune for instance has recently created Urban Street Design Guidelines and is revamping streets to make much wider footpaths and cycle tracks.
A letter strongly objecting to these recommendations has been sent to Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways by SUM Net, a national coalition of civil society organisations promoting sustainable urban mobility. The Ministry is currently in the process of revising the Bill based on the PSC report. The letter urges the Ministry to reject this recommendation of the PSC, to entirely delete Section 138(1A) and make a new Non-Motorized Vehicles Act.
To read the letter, please click here.
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Workshop in Pune on the topic of Street Vendors Scheme
A one-day workshop was organized in March 2017 to discuss the provisions and implementation of the Street Vendors Scheme announced by the Government of Maharashtra in line with the provisions of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. The workshop was organized by SUM Net members CEE (Centre for Environment Education) and Parisar with the National Hawkers’ Federation, at Yashada, Pune.
Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to regulate street vendors in public areas and protect their rights. State Governments are required to prepare Rules for implementation of the Act and also the Scheme for the Street Vendors as per section 36 and 38 of the Act. The provisions made by State Governments in the Scheme would determine whether and to what extent the Act is being implemented. The Maharashtra State Government published the Rules under the Act on August 3, 2016.The Scheme was published on 9th January 2017, without following a process for objections and suggestions from the public.
This workshop was a continuation of the dialogues and discussions initiated in early 2016 by SUM Net, CEE and Parisar. A workshop had been arranged in March 2016 at YASHADA, Pune, to discuss the provisions of the Street Vendors Act and expectations or desirable provisions for the state level legislation. A follow-up meeting was also held on 5th October 2016 at Indradhanushya, Pune to deliberate on the points emerging out of March workshop. The draft scheme text had been provided by the Urban Development department, Government of Maharashtra in response to an application under the Right to Information in late 2016. A letter sharing concerns about the published scheme had been sent to Nodal Officer of Government of Maharashtra on 10th March 2017 by Parisar. Representatives of Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Sangli, Kolhapur, Panvel, Navi Mumbai, Parbhani and Amravati were present for the workshop.
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SUM Net publishes report on condition of non-motorised transport facilities in six Indian cities :
Cyclists and pedestrians take the worst hit when it comes to our streets
Six SUM Net members engaged in executing sustainable transport projects in their cities in the year 2016. Walkability studies done in Patna, Guwahati and Ranchi revealed the miserable condition of pedestrians in the three cities, where lack of footpaths, the substandard condition of footpaths and dangerous crossings summed up the situation of pedestrian facilities. In Nagpur, women cyclists working as domestic help who rely heavily on their bicycle for transit and greater access to livelihood were studied to give voice to the issues of women cyclists in the city.
A school awareness programme undertaken in Indore highlighted the issues of the dignity of cyclists or the lack of it in our cities. In Shimla, a study of their unique, historic Mall road was undertaken which had been an exclusive pedestrian zone since before Indian independence. These varied studies have been instrumental in highlighting the condition of cyclists and pedestrians in most of the cities.
A policy statement based on the outcomes of these studies has been issued by SUM Net. Though limited in scope, these studies may very well be reflective of the situation of pedestrians and cyclists in other cities. Ironically, when the government speaks of promoting green mobility by encouraging public transport and other low carbon emitting modes of transport, little is being done about it.
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Policy statement on Walkability and Cycling in our cities
This statement is the outcome of six projects done in six cities in India, namely Patna, Nagpur, Indore, Guwahati, Shimla and Ranchi by SUM Net members which reflect the real situation of urban transport. In most of the cities, such studies were first of its kind.
Based on the specific outcomes of these studies, some broad level policy inputs can be extracted as follows:
1. The existence of a National Urban Transport Policy, have not translated into Walkability or cycling and public transport infrastructure. Even after a decade, awareness among stakeholders such as officials, media, and institutions remains near about absent. The basic tenets of sustainable transport endorsed by the NUTP – namely good public transport and facilities for non-motorised transport are compromised in varying levels in all our cities.
The only way to move ahead of this situation is for states to come up with their own state urban transport policies which can then be used to formulate enforceable rules.
2. At the city level, authorities need to engage in creating systems for good design of streets through formulating street design guidelines and according to the requirement, come up with dedicated policies for pedestrians and cyclists.
3. These studies involved public engagement in the form of public discussions, surveys and release events which are lacking from the realm of decision making in urban transport in cities. The revision of the NUTP lacked a robust public consultation process. Other than civil society organizations that organize awareness programs, the Government should think about the same at various levels.
To read the report, please click here.
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