PUNE: For once on Saturday, between 11am and 4pm, a 400metre-stretch between Nagarkar Talim chowk and Umbrya Ganpati chowk on Laxmi Road looked absolutely transformed from a cluttered and congested mess to a paradise for pedestrians.
The one-day initiative was the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)’s attempt at an open, pedestrianised “street mall” on the busiest shopping destination in the city.
For ordinary shoppers, the experience could not have been less delightful, with a new paved road, brightly-painted surfaces, potted plants, and an overall carnival atmosphere, with well-spaced street vendors, next to high-street outlets selling knick-knacks, as well as cotton candy sellers doing brisk business. To them, it was space reclaimed from traffic.
However, coming as it does in the midst of prevailing concern posed by the Omicrcon variant of the Covid-19 virus, there were murmurs about the timing of the initiative. Also, there were mumblings of discontent with complaints regarding heavier-than-usual traffic on adjacent streets, such as Kumthekar Road and Tilak Road. Also, there were complaints about heavy footfall during the day, especially on a weekend.
“Honestly, I could not believe that this is Laxmi Road. This set-up should be done at least once or twice a month, especially during the festive or wedding seasons. Earlier, I would not think of bringing my children or my elderly mother here to shop, because it is so congested with traffic and parked vehicles. However, it has been really nice seeing chairs arranged for the elderly, and children having a wide and open road to enjoy,” said Arun Borde out with his family for some last-minute wedding shopping.
Even for the ones who work at the many apparel and jewellery outlets on the stretch, the sense of freedom and the almost festive atmosphere was a welcome change.
“This feels really good for us, with lack of cars and parked vehicles. Even though the number of people coming in are slightly less, those who visited our shop were in a happy mood,” said Sharda Bahingade, an employee at a jewellery outlet on the stretch.
“The concept is not bad, but I have seen that less people have come to my outlet. Because this is a jewellery shop and my customers are concerned about safety, they prefer to drive up to the outlet and drive out quickly after making their purchase,” said the manager of a jewellery outlet on Laxmi Road.
For the ones helping implement Saturday’s initiative, it was a starting point and a learning curve, but they received an appreciative feedback from the shopping public.
“People effectively reclaimed their streets due to this measure. A lot of people have told us that this set-up was good for their children to enjoy, with wide-open street, and being able to move from one outlet to the other without having to dodge traffic. We are conducting surveys to figure out the footfall during the five hours. But this is still a trial phase. Not just global cities, but even other Indian cities have pedestrianised shopping streets. We are only just starting,” said Aditya Chawande, an urban designer associated with the thinktank Parisar, which helped the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) implement the open street concept.
