I live and drive in Delhi. It is a nightmare. The roads are great but you are in constant fear of running over humans and animals. Every time a good road or flyover is built, the fences & dividers are broken so that people may still cross wherever & whenever they want to. Glad that this is being enforced, hope it continues. Next target should be drunken driving. However in Delhi, it is " Baap ka rasta" :-)
On Dec 6, 2007 5:46 PM, Srini Ramakrishnan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-30854320071206?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true > > Lights turn red for stunned Delhi jaywalkers > Thu Dec 6, 2007 2:10pm IST > > By Jonathan Allen > > NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Pedestrians don't cross the Indian capital's > chaotic streets so much as dash across as if their life depends on it, > which it very often does. > > More than 900 pedestrians a year fail to make it to the other side, > killed by the city's lawless drivers. So police decided on Wednesday > it was time to start enforcing a 27-year-old rule against jaywalking. > > The result was puzzlement and sometimes anger from people for whom > dicing with traffic death is a fact of Indian urban life. > > At six busy New Delhi intersections on Thursday, police officers > grabbed jaywalkers by the arm, issued them tickets, and made them pay > 20-rupee fines before explaining the idea of waiting patiently for the > lights to change. > > "We have to run, the lights don't turn green long enough for us to > cross," said D.K. Bhargav, an angry, 57-year-old office worker, > fearlessly confronting an officer with his complaint. > > "And in other places there's no crossing at all." > > "Speak to the government and say, 'Kindly build us a crossing,'" was > the policeman's advice. > > In the city's Connaught Place commercial district, a troop of men in > woolly jumpers, smart shoes and trousers were hastily painting a new > zebra crossing. > > Then police reinforcements arrived and, for the first time that anyone > could remember, made about 50 pedestrians line up and wait patiently > on either side of the road while traffic rushed by, smearing the > still-drying paint. > > People giggled self-consciously, smiling at those on the opposite > curb. During a pause in the traffic someone tried to break ranks and > dash across, but a whistle-blowing policeman intercepted him, making > everyone laugh. > > "How would a villager know about these lights? There are no traffic > lights in their villages," said Constable Suresh Sharma, who thought > that the widespread rule-breaking was partly due to Delhi's large > population of rural migrants. > > "Our aim is not to prosecute people, our aim is to educate them," > police spokesman Rajan Bhagat explained by telephone. > > But not everyone who was fined took away the correct message. > > "Next time I'll be watchful," said Vasant Pant, a 20-year-old courier > late making his deliveries. "I'll look to see if there's a traffic > policeman before crossing." > > Some offenders, like Sachin Chaudry, a young, late-running bank > executive, quickly handed over their fine and their details without > even interrupting their cellphone calls. > > Others were more evasive. > > "I don't have the money," pleaded Ankita Khurana, a nervous-looking > 18-year-old student. > > "Then you'll have to go to jail," the policeman replied. She suddenly > remembered she had change in her bag. > > But another jaywalker -- a scrawny man in unwashed clothes -- seemed > to be telling the truth. > > "This is all I have," he pleaded, holding out five rupees. > > The enraged policeman took this as an insult, waving a finger in his > face before pushing him back the way he came. > > "Next time don't cross without a green light," he snarled. > > (Additional reporting by Onkar Pandey) > >
