Punjab now 1st state to enforce 'right to walk'

NEW DELHI: Amid consistent rise in deaths of pedestrians and cyclists, Punjab has taken the lead among the states and UTs to implement the 'right to walk' by making it mandatory for all road-owning agencies, including the NHAI, to provide footpath and cycle tracks in all future expansion of roads and construction of new ones.
The state government has issued these directions following two court orders after PILs were filed at Punjab and Haryana HC and another in the Supreme Court.
As per a communication from Punjab chief secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua to Punjab government's traffic adviser, Navdeep Asija, "in future all expansions of existing roads and construction of new roads, a mandatory provision of cycle tracks and footpaths should be made by all road owning departments and agencies".
The letter sent last week added that all agencies such as the public works department, local bodies, NHAI and urban development departments have been instructed to prepare an action plan to construct footpaths and cycle tracks with a time frame and budget provision.