Blocked and broken footpaths, unsafe crossings, and illegally parked vehicles make Mata Maharani Chowk, located next to one of the busiest wholesale markets in India, a hazardous place to walk.
In peak hour, around 536 people walk and 120 cycle through this intersection, connecting the New Delhi railway station, metro station, schools, and the market. Pedestrians and cyclists mix with high-speed delivery trucks, buses, motorcycles, and other vehicles. Yet people who walk and cycle have been overlooked in the design of this three-lane, 8 meter-wide road—there is no pedestrian refuge island to protect pedestrians from motorized traffic, no demarcation between traffic lanes and no markings to tell drivers where to stop for pedestrians. Vehicles travel at around 50 km/h or more, despite a legal limit of 40 km/h. Based on a Mobility Snapshot conducted by Alliance member TRAX, iRAP has rated this intersection as 1.0 star for both pedestrians and cyclists, the lowest possible safety rating.
As part of its campaign for the UN Global Road Safety Week, TRAX is using its Mobility Snapshot data and iRAP analysis to demand urgent safety interventions. Through a combination of jurisdictional mapping, previous collaboration, and on-ground assessments of responsibility and responsiveness, it has identified key stakeholders. It is targeting the Public Works Department, which is responsible for road infrastructure elements, including redesign, refuge islands, road markings and delineation, and Delhi Traffic police to ask them to enforce the speed limit and address illegal parking.
TRAX has made formal submissions to both of these authorities, backed by technical assessments and community testimonials. It is scheduling joint visits to the intersection with representatives from both agencies to ensure engagement.
It is also engaging local schools and shopkeepers to build community demand and mobilizing social media to share video clips of unsafe conditions and infographics based on the Mobility Snapshot and iRAP star ratings to tag relevant agencies and create public visibility.
Sunita Tripathi, Program Director at TRAX, says “TRAX has been advocating for safe Infrastructure and we believe that the selection of the junction at Mata Maharani Chowk will be another challenge and may be another milestone to attract the attention to the hazardous conditions at the junction and to take the necessary corrective measures by the concerned stakeholders.”
