In an attempt to prevent jaywalking, incidents of street crime and promote the usage of subways, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has planned to install fences in the Outer Circle of Connaught Place.
The civic agency has already installed these fences along the Parliament Street and Regal Cinema on a trial basis. Besides, it has also installed bollards in paths leading to each block to prevent bikers from riding inside the corridors.
“We have proposed to put glass reinforced concrete (GRC) railings in the Outer circle of CP. Our team had observed the behaviour of pedestrians in the area over a few months. It noted that people still prefer to cross roads obstructing the traffic because of which subways are left unused,” said an official.
In addition to subways, corridors in the blocks and table-tops have been created for the sole purpose of smooth movement of pedestrians, the agency observed. After the revamp, CP now has 20 public toilets and eight subways.
Officials informed that the decision to guard the Outer Circle with fences was taken also to curtail street crimes in the area. “The second aspect our team had observed was that there were several incidents of chain snatching in the area where the thief gets a free-run because of the openness of the place. The railings will restrict their movement and will help the police to do their job in a better way,” he added. The NDMC has currently installed these pink-coloured fences in just one block which houses the age-old regal cinema and Kwality Restaurant.
Meanwhile, in a bid to restrict people from parking at unauthorised locations and bikers from riding their bikes inside the corridors, the council has put bollards to obstruct such motorists. “This was extremely important. The corridors are strictly meant only for pedestrians and no motorist is allowed,” they informed.
With the ambitious redevelopment of the commercial hub finally coming to a closure, the civic agency is now focused at trying out ways of attracting people to its new facilities.
First, it decided to outsource the maintenance of the shopper’s paradise, which involves keeping it clean and installing new street furniture.
Secondly, it proposed to let out spaces for commercial purposes which will be flagged off with a ‘mini-haat’ and a store selling products made by inmates of Tihar Jail. “Post-redevelopment, CP has become the face of Delhi. We have built state-of-the-art subways, public toilets and table-tops for easy pedestrian movement. If people do not use these facilities, it’s our loss. So, now we are finding alternatives to promote what we have created,” said an NDMC official.
The agency has claimed the redevelopment work to be over with, only final painting of the heritage building is left, which is to be done before Diwali, scheduled on November 3.