In Focus

Finally, A Pedestrian-Only Zone

After years of excessive barricading in and around the world heritage site the Gateway of India, following the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai that left the zone garrisoned beyond recognition, the authorities decided to make the Gateway of India stretch right from Regal Circle to Radio Club - the city's first 'Only Pedestrian' zone. This comes as a huge relief to the millions of tourists who have been dodging parked vehicles, traffic, flowerpots, barricades and you-name-it all in the guise of 'security'.
The city's first 'Only Pedestrian' zone is a victory for common man who successfully reclaimed his Right To Walk

For a historic structure visited by lakhs of tourists every year, the transportation options are few and far beyond. For one, to reach the structure, a tourist has to depend heavily on share-a-taxi services plying from Churchgate Station and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CST) or BEST buses dropping them to a spot about 100 metres away. The public are left with little choice but to walk to the destination.

Here, falls in place, the decision to make the Gateway Stretch - the city's first 'Only Pedestrian' zone is a victory for common man who has successfully reclaimed his Right To Walk in Mumbai's most prized locality.

The idea of having a dedicated ‘pedestrian lane’ is to “create more space for tourists, women and children on the sea front.” So, although visitors to the monument will be screened where the pedestrian zone begins, vehicles headed to the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower will be given a dedicated lane.

Incidentally, the city’s prized tourist attraction has already witnessed two devastating terrorist attacks. In August 2003, a taxi bomb had claimed eight lives and then later in August 2005, a Manipuri, Ngakuimi Raleng and friend Leishichon Shaiza were stabbed at the Gateway of India in front of several bystanders.

A few years later, in November 2008, Lashkar E Toiba terrorists stormed the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower killing 31 people in a three-day siege.

These incidents formed the basis, however debatable, for the spurt in security in and around the zone. Although Mumbai has a sprinkling of terror-hit zones all over, no other place has earned such heightened security bringing into focus the element of arbitrariness in police action.

However, on an experimental basis, one lane of the road between Taj Mahal Palace & Tower and the Radio Club is now thrown open as a pedestrian path on Sundays and public holidays.

Locals are more than exhilarated with the decision and, rightly so too. Over the years, it has become impossible to walk around the Gateway of India. Barricades were placed at every possible spot around the zone. Right from generating ‘make-shift footpaths for pedestrians’ to ‘dividers to bifurcate’ the road and ‘control vehicles’, the use of barricades has been arbitrary and quite excessive. Worse still is the high-handed behaviour of the police authorities in the vicinity who behave like a law unto themselves.

The public, as usual, is at the receiving end of the high-handed arbitrariness of the authorities. Public transport available by way of BEST buses from CST and Churchgate to the Gateway of India. These, however, are rendered useless owing to the tendency of the service provider to wait endlessly for full occupancy before plying. So, passengers opt for a share-a-taxi service available at a fixed rate of Rs 10 per person, the same as that of the BEST Bus service.

And then, there are private players such as Uber, Ola and Private Cars plying regularly to the heritage site putting the pedestrian at direct risk and the common at sea when it comes to availing public transport. “It’s an ordeal now visiting the Gateway of India,” feels Pune-based telecom employee Maitrayee Joshi. “Dodging so many share-a-taxi drivers who bully tourists into availing their service is a pain. The traffic cops look the other way and seem least bothered about the mess that affects tourists directly,” she says. Also, in the absence of any proper laid-down rules for parking or movement, it’s a virtual free for all at the Gateway of India.

An armoured security vehicle stands parked for good opposite the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower on a footpath supposedly ‘meant for pedestrians’ and an unofficial ‘pigeon-feeding zone’ eked out of the open space with barricades keeps those who feed the pigeons, themselves, out of the way.

The creation and control of barricaded zones left to the discretion of the local police continue to thwart public movement and affect public transportation drastically leaving tourists scrounging for passage.

The world over, tourist zones are hit by terror owing to the dint of their very nature yet recover and soon. Look at the 9/11 spot in New York City, for instance. The terror-hit venue has been converted into a beautiful memorial for those who lost their lives in the catastrophe.

Ten years after the attacks on September 11th 2001, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum was thrown open. While entry to the 9/11 Memorial is free for the public, entry to the musum is by fee and needs to be booked at least six months in advance. The names of every person who died in the terrorist attacks of February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001 are inscribed in bronze around the twin memorial pools.

Concurrently, the Gateway of India that wasn't affected by the 26/11 terror attack - the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower that stands opposite the Gateway of India was targetted by the Lashkar E Taiba terrorists, was barricaded intensively and public transport censored in arbitrary bits and pieces to create a mess.

The onus of the mess in public transportation created in and around Mumbai's prizest tourist zone, The Gateway of India, lies squarely on the Maharashtra government, the city's police force, the BMC and transport corporation, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC).

This report has been prepared for DraftCraft International’s flagship initiative The Public Space Project in conjunction with its pilot endeavours - The Right To Walk Project, The Gateway of India Project and The Elephanta Island Project to research, analyse and determine the rights of the common man, the pedestrian, the tourist and the rights of the masses availing public transportation in contrast to those privileged few owning private vehicles. The initiative examines laws and policies regarding transport, access to public spaces and privacy guaranteed to all by the State in context of the Right To Equality, Freedoms and the Right to Life.