Mumbai: Aiming to make the roads and footpaths around the periphery of schools in Mumbai safer and pedestrian-friendly, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday launched ‘Safe School Project’.
Senior officials of the civic body said that this project is aimed at upgrading the footpaths, road signages and traffic infrastructure on the periphery of the roads which have schools so that the walkability space on the footpaths could be improved.
“As part of this project, we will reengineer the footpaths outside schools and paint road markings and zebra crossings using bright colours. This will not only prevent rash driving but will also make sure that students can walk slowly,” said a senior official.
“The project will also include refurbishing the existing furniture on the footpaths and replacing the old conventional bus waiting for shelters with newly designed shelters. The project will also require removal of encroachments from the footpath to declutter it,” said the official.
Earlier in October 2021, the civic body had chalked out a 200-metre stretch outside Christ Church school in Mirza Ghalib Road in Byculla. As part of the project, the pedestrian crossings were painted with vibrant colours for better visibility and rumble strips were also created and painted for controlling the speed of motorists.
Besides this guide strips and waiting areas were also marked on the footpath for children. The road signages were also improved and the level of the footpaths was also matched with the main carriageway of the road to make it wheelchair friendly.
The BMC along with stakeholders like World Research Institute (WRI) and school children carried out walks and drafted the plan for this project, following which it was implemented.
“The new policy will also be implemented by keeping the students confident. We will be carrying out walks and assessing the traffic flow outside the schools before drafting a final plan,” said officials.
Aaditya Thackeray, state minister of environment and guardian minister of Mumbai inaugurated the event.
Following the event, Aaditya Tweeted, “As we launch project “Safe Schools”, we gear up to provide a safe entry and exit point for every student at school with basic civic interventions. Furthermore, once inside the school, we’re working on oral hygiene, mental healthcare, and diabetes management. Safe School is a right of every child on our planet. They depend on us for their safe upbringing in schools, as much for equality in quality of education.”