Kamal Ghorui
Chennai: Chennai’s first pedestrian plaza, the 1.4-km stretch in Pondy Bazaar, is losing ground. The plaza was built under the Chennai Smart City Mission in 2019 at a cost of 40 crore. However, now, broken pavements, unchecked encroachments and poor upkeep have turned the once safe, walkable stretch into a compromised public space. Several uneven sections of the plaza, pose a safety risk to pedestrians.Seating areas and children’s play spaces are poorly maintained. Vehicular and vendor encroachments further shrink the space for pedestrians.“When the plaza first opened, it felt spacious. Now, it has shrunk,” said Tania Prabha, a regular at the plaza. “Walking on the stretch accompanied by a toddler is not easy. Uneven surfaces make it difficult to move strollers or walk with small children. It would be even more challenging for differently abled persons,” she said.Visitors also flagged the continued presence of two-wheelers in pedestrian zones. “We do not know how these vehicles got here, but we have learnt to navigate around them,” Tania added. “Strict fines must be levied to stop vehicular encroachments,” she said.Civic amenities within the plaza have also come in for criticism. “The children’s play areas and seating spaces are in poor condition. We don’t feel comfortable using them,” said Supreethi, from Villivakkam. In some stretches, stagnant water mixed with organic waste has led to a foul odour, making the walking experience unpleasant, she said.Urban planning experts stress that pedestrian infrastructure must ensure safe, continuous, and obstruction-free movement. Footpaths should maintain a minimum clear width of 1.8m to accommodate users comfortably.“At the plaza, the needs of pedestrians have to be prioritised over vehicles,” said Shivani B, senior associate at ITDP India. “Equally important is user awareness and behaviour change. Footpaths must be recognised as spaces meant for walking and not for parking or driving.”She added that Greater Chennai Corporation has initiated AI-based street audits to assess on-ground conditions. “Continued audits, stronger enforcement, and clearly defined pedestrian zones need to work hand in hand to improve the effectiveness of such pedestrian spaces,” she said.Teynampet zonal officer K Varadharajan said he will visit the stretch and address all the concerns next week. K Elumalai, DMK councillor of ward 133, said all issues regarding the pedestrian plaza will be fixed to improve safety for the public.
