'Better risk traffic than use subways'

NEW DELHI: Despite constant reminders by Delhi traffic police for pedestrians to use subways as part of its road safety advisory, people continue to flock at intersections waiting for the signals to change before crossing the road.
It is not that they wish to defy the authorities, but just that the condition of the subways is so bad that they would rather risk traffic.
Take for instance, the case of 21-year-old Swati Pandit, who works as an employee at a Vikas Marg showroom.
Pandit would rather wait for the traffic flow on the Vikas Marg in east Delhi to ease than use the subway at Preet Vihar to cross the road.
"It is so dark and dingy that it is scary. The lights don''t work and there is always this fear that I may get robbed. The stench of urine is simply unbearable," said Pandit.
About five kilometres down, at the Laxminagar crossing, the situation is no better.
Pandit''s worst fears are echoed by Punarnima Saha, who works in one of the offices at the CGO complex and has to cross the busy road daily to reach the bus stop near the Lodi Crematorium, deaspite there being a subway a few feet away.
"At times, it takes me 15 minutes before I can actually cross the road. This being a freeway zone with no traffic signals, the flow of traffic rarely eases," she said.
"It not the distance but the condition of the subway that is the deterrent," she said. She finds the subway unsafe as well.
The story is the same all over. Be it at the subway near the heavily congested Red Fort, AIIMS or the GB Pant hospital, poor maintenance and lack of security has made these places impossible to use.
"What is sad is that in heavily congested areas, the subways were especially planned for the convenience of the pedestrians," said a Delhi municipal corporation official.
MCD commissioner Rakesh Mehta, blamed the poor location of the subways.