Treading the tough path!

The Union Ministry of Urban Development (UMUD), in a bid to create a job for themselves - as I percieve it, recently calculated the Walkability Index of 30 major cities in the country. The Walkability Index is calculated as (W1*availability) + (W2*facility rating) where W1 & W2 are parametric weights, assumed as 50% for both. And this is how some of them fare:

A more pertinent question: Can we follow-up on these findings with an action item? (Pls note the usage of the word 'action' - c'mon folks we are waiting!). Planned cities like Chandigarh (tops the Walkability Index) provide for public amenities/services eg. footpaths, etc as a vital part of the urban planning process. But congested towns like Bangalore, where the broad lanes have turned into alleys, show no scope, and absolutely no hope, of improvement the pedestrian infrastrucutre.

Wondering if the tax payers' moolah goes into just making reports, or even implementing reforms for the benefit of public!

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- Namrta Batra