UNDERGROUND PASSAGES / SUBWAYS

A subway is normally an underpass for pedestrians and/or cyclists beneath a road or

railway, allowing them to reach the other side in safety. They are constructed when it is
necessary for pedestrians to cross a railway line or a dual carriageway such as an
interstate highway, and they appear at the exits from underground rapid transit systems.
When they are built, the term pedestrian underpass is more likely to be used, because
"subway" mainly refers to rapid transit systems.

SUBWAYS SELECTED:

1. Asaf Ali marg

2. ITO
3. AIIMS
4. Hauz khas connecting ITO
5. Green park
6. Khan market
7. Sujan singh park
8. Bairon Marg

ISSUES AT THESE SUBWAYS:

SUBWAY AT ITO
 ● The pedestrian subway is located at Ram Charan Agarwal Chowk, popularly
known as ITO crossing.
● 71 meter long and five meter wide.
● It connects the Delhi Police Headquarters and Engineers' Bhawan and is a part of
the ITO Metro station.
● The subway has been constructed using `box-pushing technology` that instead of
traditional digging, uses a box pushing method, that allows work to be carried out
without creating any traffic disruptions or diversions.
● The interiors of the subway have been built using black, grey and red granite for
the flooring of the subway alongwith false ceiling and facia on the walls.
● There is provision of lift and escalators.

SUBWAY AT BHAIRON MARG

 ● Pedestrians here prefer to brave the heavy traffic rather than venture into the ill-
maintained , dingy subway to reach Pragati Maidan from the parking lot near
Bhairon Mandir.
● The PWD, which constructed the subway during the Commonwealth Games at a
cost of Rs 1 crore, has made no arrangements for its maintenance.
● The other subway on the same road is in a poor condition too. “We don’t feel
safe while using the subway. There is no security guard and at night, there is no
illumination here,” says Sunita Verma, an entrepreneur who is a regular visitor to
Pragati Maidan.

SUBWAY AT AIIMS

● The subway opposite AIIMS, though well-lit and comparatively cleaner , does not
have any signage to guide the people. But the pedestrians still prefer taking the
road. "We cross the road with proper care," said a pedestrian who was seen
avoiding the subway.
● Current situation because of covid, people stay over here and make it dirty and
make it unhygienic.
● Security Issues.
SUBWAY AT ASAF ALI MARG

● Every day thousands of patients and their relatives from Delhi’s two big
government hospitals — Lok Nayak and GB Pant — risk their lives to cross the
busy Asaf Ali Road to buy medicines from chemist shops located on the opposite
side.
● Despite being located near hospitals, the subway does not have escalators,
elevators or ramps.
● It is also poorly lit and stinks as people urinate there.
● The subway remains open between 6am and 10pm.

ISSUES FACED BY UNDERGROUND PASSAGES IN INDIA

● According to a survey done in 2004, 49 per cent of the 1,753 people killed in road
accidents in the city were pedestrians. Yet Delhiites continue to cross roads,
weaving their way through heavy traffic, instead of using subways.
● The problems dogging these subterranean facilities such as unhygienic
conditions, lack of security and irrational sitting keeping people off them.
● The lack of maintenance by the authorities along with public misuse has
turned this subway into a public urinal.
● Garbage is dumped inside them. These passages, too, have no lights.
● Flooding problems in underground passages.
● Cost and maintenance factor.
● No architectural interventions in designing these passages.
● Underpasses are also for the specially abled people but because of issues they
avoid passing through it.
● Absence of security guards.

PROPOSALS

1. Provide Escalators and Elevators for easier access and for the specially abled.

2. Provide better lighting and ventilation to prevent dark and dingy spaces.

3.Provide better drainage systems to prevent flooding.

4.Provide architectural elements and an aesthetic point of view to attract the public.
5.Security and safety proposals.