Khadi Machine Chowk and Undri Chowk to become “Zero-Fatality Corridor”

Chaitraly Deshmukh

To save lives on Pune’s roads, an organisation SaveLIFE Foundation with support from Mahindra and Mahindra in close partnership with the Pune Municipal Corporation and the Pune Traffic Police has launched Tactical Urbanism trials at the Undri Chowk and Khadi Machine Chowk.

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It has been witnessed that between 2017 to 2020, the Khadi Machine Chowk witnessed a total of 65 road accidents. The Undri Chowk, between 2017 to 2019, registered a total of 34 road crashes.

SaveLIFE Foundation saves lives on roads in India and beyond by improving road safety and access to emergency medical care of United Nations Sustainability Goal (SDGs 3.6 and 11.2.) They fix roads through crash investigations and smart engineering design with support from police forces, and emergency medical teams. They also train first responders in life-saving skills and bridges gaps between road crashes and the delivery of urgent trauma care.

In the past this organisation has reduced road crash deaths on India’s dangerous Mumbai-Pune Expressway by 43%.

Tactical Urbanism (TU) trials are temporary, quick and relatively low-cost interventions that test out urban design, transportation planning and infrastructural changes for improving road safety for all road users, especially the most vulnerable, like pedestrians, cyclists and other non-motorised transport (NMT) users. Once the interventions are proven, the relevant Government agencies are expected to make them permanent.

Khadi Machine Chowk to Undri Chowk become Zero Fatality Corridor :

As a part of the Zero Fatality Corridor (ZFC) Project, SaveLIFE Foundation is testing temporary urban design interventions to improve safety for pedestrians and other road users in various cities across India. The Pune trials include reclaiming spaces to create wider roads, more continuous public realm, including safer walkways, traffic islands, pedestrian refuge and shorter, safer and more comfortable crossings. The other interventions include orienting and pre-informing users through way finding and signages and geometric correction through T junctions to streamline traffic. The Undri Chowk and Khadi Machine Chowk interventions are the first such endeavours underway within Pune city.

SaveLIFE Foundation has thus far conducted similar tactical redesigns at Karla Phata and Kanhe Phata on NH48 in Maharashtra and at Bhalswa Chowk, Rajghat Intersection, Burari Chowk and Gandhi Vihar in New Delhi.

Speaking about the need to support such interventions, Veejay Nakra, CEO, Automotive Division, Mahindra and Mahindra, said, “The key to reducing road accidents lies in innovatively devising ingenious solutions. To this effect, Mahindra and Mahindra is proud to have partnered with the SaveLIFE Foundation for the last seven years to reduce road accidents, injuries and fatalities in Maharashtra. Through the collaborative initiative for Zero Fatality Corridor (ZFC), which is the first of its kind in Pune, we hope to create a replicable model that becomes a benchmark across India.”

Vikram Kumar, Municipal Commissioner, Pune said, “For pedestrians safety, SaveLIFE Foundation and Pune Municipal Corporation are jointly working to improve the black spots in Pune. The purpose of this pilot Tactical Urbanism project at Undri Chowk, Pune is to make this intersection safer for both pedestrians and cyclists.”

Commenting on this, Piyush Tewari, CEO, SaveLIFE Foundation said, “As a part of SLF’s Zero-Fatality Corridor model—of which these TU trials are a part—we conduct detailed investigation to ascertain the best possible interventions and solutions aimed at minimising road crashes and consequent fatalities, to save lives. After these solutions emerge as the right choice for the road safety concerns at hand, we work in collaboration with the relevant Government authorities to make it permanent.”

At the Khadi Machine Chowk, these interventions have helped reduce the
exposure distance and time by over 30%. The public realm there has increased by 120%. Similarly, at the Undri Chowk, the interventions have helped increase the public realm by 314% and reduced the exposure distance and time by 40 %.