1. Ankita Pandey, Apoorva Tadepalli, Astrid Pereira, Nishtha Gorke, Nitya
Chandrasekhar
COMMUNICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT| XAVIERINSTITUTE OF COMMUNICATION
Road Safety in
Dharavi
A STUDY OF INFRASTRUCTURE, SPACE, SANITATIONAND
PEOPLE

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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………………………………..2
Introduction and Literature…………………………………………………………………………………………3
Objective……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..7
Stakeholders………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..8
Tools…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….9
Findings and Analyses………………………………………………………………………………………………….17
School………………………………………………………………………………………………………………18
Observation………………………………………………………………………………………….19
Teachers……………………………………………………………………………………………….24
Parents in PTA……………………………………………………………………………………….28
4th standard students…………………………………………………………………………….30
8th standard students……………………………………………………………………………..39
Community………………………………………………………………………………………………………..47
Residents………………………………………………………………………………………………..48
Fathers……………………………………………………………………………………………………57
Nagar Sevak…………………………………………………….……………………………………..59
Traffic warden………………………………………………………………………………………..60
Mahila Mandal………..……………………………………………………………………………..61
NGO (Adapt Foundation)…………………………………………………………………………62
Political/NGO owner..……………………………………………………………………………..63
Authorities..………………………………………………………………………………………………………..65
Sion Hospital……………………………………………………………………………………………66
Police Authority………..……………………………………………………………………………..68
Way Forward………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….70
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………71

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank Xavier Institute of Communications for granting us the opportunity,
creative freedom and financial assistance to work on this report.
We also thank our course director Mrs. Alka Gadgil for this project, and for her constant
guidance and support. We are grateful to our qualitative research professor Ms. Anagha
Pradhan and our quantitative research professor Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, for their valuable inputs
and feedback.
We would particularly like to thank Mrs. Veena Donwalkar, Principal of Chhatrapati Shivaji
School for permitting us to use the school premise for our activity.
A heartfelt thanks to all our respondents who cooperated with us at all times, and because of
whom we look forward to visiting Dharavi every day.
This report has been made possible (of course, apart from our sincere efforts) by the dynamic
and incredible structure that is Dharavi itself, and its warmth, vibrance and inspiring spirit
which according to our experience is unparalleled.

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INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE
Road Infrastructure, Development and Accidents: Causes and Prevention
Road safety is a heavily understated problem regarding the health of the world’s population.
International organizations’ studies have begun to reveal road traffic accidents as a health
hazard as serious as many diseases. A World Bank estimate believes that by 2020, road
accidents will be the third most common cause of physical disabilities (1. Federal Ministry for
Economic Cooperation and Development). The UN MDG Summit in New York, 2010, presented
that road traffic accidents (RTAs) kill more people between the ages of five and fourteen than
diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. (2. The Missing Link: Road Traffic Injuries and the
Millenium Development Goals, by Kevin Watkins). Watkins believes, therefore, the road safety
should be as much an international development priority as any of the other diseases
associated and prevalent in developing countries. He says, “The challenge is to put the road
traffic injury crisis where it belongs – at the centre of the international development agenda”.
This is because he believes that the costs of road traffic accidents are borne “overwhelmingly
by the world’s poorest countries and people”. This suggests that the source believes that
infrastructure, which is largely informal and unplanned in developing countries and therefore
sometimes not conducive to safe roads, is a large influencer in road traffic accidents. However,
this source does not actually directly mention the difference between developing and
developed countries that makes people living in developed countries safer from accidents.
The Global Road Safety Partnership (3) (www.grsproadsafety.org) suggests a possible
connection here. According to this source, developing countries’ roads have relatively less cars
and relatively more pedestrians and vulnerable road users (cyclists, non-motorized vehiclists
and people on scooters), and the majority of casualties are pedestrians or cyclists, which
implies that in areas where there are more vulnerable road users, the number of casualties is
higher. This source also talks about road safety from a holistic approach – from the perspectives
of people who engineer and design the roads, the automobile designers, road users of all kinds,
bystanders and local authorities, because everyone is a stakeholder in this issue. The more
important stakeholders, however, according to this source, are the authorities, because this
source identifies infrastructure as the most important element of road safety. Therefore, the
factors emphasized here for road safety are motorcycle lanes, signs, markings, crossings,
intersections, islands for pedestrians and cyclists, parking facilities, speed humps etc. – factors
which separate the vulnerable road users from the vehicles and make their interaction minimal.
This demonstrates a top-down perspective of development, wherein the vulnerable road users
depend on institutionalized structures to provide a safe environment. Indeed, the very term
“vulnerable road users” indicates dependence.

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The partnership discusses the importance and significance of road authorities making “black
spot analyses” or analyses of accident prone areas, as method of prevention. They also have a
road safety manual for pedestrians, which includes the magnitude of pedestrian death and
injury; key risk factors; how to assess the pedestrian safety situation in a country or area and
prepare an action plan; and how to select, design, implement and evaluate effective
interventions. The manual stresses the importance of a comprehensive, holistic approach that
includes enforcement, engineering and education. It also draws attention to the benefits of
walking, which should be promoted as an important mode of transport given its potential to
improve health and preserve the environment. This communication is centralized and one-way.
According to a paper (4. Transport Policy and Advisory Services) by the Federal Ministry for
Economic Coperation and Development, 86% of road accidents occur in developing countries
even though only 30% of the world’s vehicles are from there. These accidents are estimated to
cause 1.5% loss in GDP in developing countries by 2020. This is why there is a concern to bring
the issue to international discourse especially because, as Watkins puts it, “Despite the
different set of circumstances in each road accident, the two things that almost all RTAs have in
common are that they are predictable and preventable.”
Watkins’ book emphasizes the link between road traffic accidents and poor economic growth,
hence the impact on the poor (“it undermines growth and the poor bear the brunt of the injury,
with devastating consequences for their livelihoods, earnings and prospects for escaping
poverty”). The book identifies some key reasons for road traffic accidents, some of which are
region specific, some of which are not – for example, it says that government transport policies
emphasize low travel time which leads to rash driving, and that skewed economic growth has
resulted in a boom in the number of vehicles but underinvestment in quality infrastructure –
again showing that this source also regards infrastructure as an important factor in road safety,
over the practices of pedestrians and road users.
This source also identifies, from studies in Kenya which it generalizes to the entire third world,
that local authorities undercount casualties of RTAs because they are not motivated enough to
report accurately to the national headquarters, or because there is little follow up with
hospitals that have taken injured people. From June 2009-10, Red Cross recorded 160% more
fatalities than the local authorities for the same stretch of the road.
Space and the Informal Sector
The nature of traffic and therefore traffic accidents can be understood within the framework of
land, space and city planning. In many planning projects, road network extensions happen
without understanding the potential of limited space, and this leads to congestion. A paper by
(5) GTZ – Sustainable Transport: A Sourcebook for Policymakers in Developing Cities: Land Use

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Planning and Urban Transport (September 2004) identifies urban and residential space as
allocated a certain way: residential areas surround the centre of a city, where business activity
happens (“centre of development”), connected through roads – hence transport is daily in one
direction (inwards for work, outwards after work). This is a very western layout of urban space
and understanding of the urban/suburban. In a place like Dharavi, the residence space is not so
separate from the business space because here, it is both informal business activity, and
informal housing sector – western models of urban space do not consider either. Instead, these
models identify urban studies, land use planning and transport development as the areas of
study through which to come out with a sustainable transport system.
In contrast, urban India has very different paradigm of space. There is a huge gap in the rates of
growth of certain sections of the city – smaller richer population gets more land. This inefficient
use of land is a result of real estate capitalism. Comparison of land use and space in Asian cities
with American cities shows that road length is much less (1.1 vs 6.7 m per capita) in Asian cities,
but road density as well as number of pedestrians/cyclists is much higher (GTZ). The high
density due to population and number of informal businesses, as in Dharavi, leads to less
mobility for the residents in these areas, according to GTZ. At the very least, these residents
definitely have a different relationship to their space. For example, according to the (6)Oxford
Handbook of Cities in World History, public utility infrastructure like running water, energy and
waste management, in more “developed” cities, are usually all underground due to
space/hygiene/safety concerns. In large developing cities, the space is not utilized like this and
most infrastructure (in this case, waste disposal and water) are above ground – that is, on the
roads. This is overlapping infrastructure (waste and water on roads) which can be linked to
ideas of sanitation (in this case, toilets and open defecation), health and safety, and also may be
considered one of the major concerns for pedestrians.
Another feature of urban India is that greater income divide among the population makes
negotiation for space harder, because there will be more modes of transport on the roads (i.e.
instead of almost everyone using the same kind of cars, there are people walking, taking the
bus, cycling, riding scooters and driving cars of different styles/power) to accommodate the
disparities that all co-exist in the same public space (an experience not as common in first world
countries). The separate facilities that the Global Road Safety Partnership suggests are ideal,
but impractical in a setting where separate infrastructure for pedestrians leads to heavily
restricted mobility for cars. (6) Traffic Safety and Health in Indian Cities by Dinesh Mohan,
Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Program, IIT Delhi, says that Indian cities are
often arranged (by default, not by policy) in such a way that land is of mixed use: business,
home, school, hospital, entertainment, station, are all intermingling throughout the available
space, rather than having allocated spaces. This is why travelling by vehicles in a one-way
fashion, towards a central point, is not the situation here.

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A blog article from (7) www.thisbigcity.net called “Active Streets in India’s Dharavi Slum” talks
about the public space in that it is “real, not manufactured” because the streets have naturally
developed from the ground up, rather than having been engineered or designed by officials.
This source suggests that perhaps this is the best way to have people-friendly public spaces like
roads (“Perhaps everyday citizens will design urban streets in the future?”) An example of this
people-friendliness is the presence of hawkers and sidewalk businesses. Dinesh Mohan talks
about these people as important figures in public spaces, because they are directly correlated
to reduced crime and more safe roads. They are also important bystanders in case of accidents,
and unofficially, unconsciously do the work of traffic police in spaces where traffic police
themselves are not present.
In this way, road safety becomes an issue that is being grappled with at several levels, from
international to local, with each level having a different paradigm with which to see it.

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OBJECTIVE
The objective of the research was to gauge the situation of the roads and traffic around
Chhatrapati Shivaji School, in Dharavi, and the safety hazards faced on the roads by children of
this school. This was to be done by:
- Studying the conditions of the roads themselves and infrastructure of the area through
observation, resource mapping and interviews or focus group discussions with locals
and local authorities
- Studying the knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding safety on the roads of the
schoolchildren and the locals, by interactions, interviews or focus group discussions with
them and various other stakeholder groups
In the process of understanding the road safety situation in the area, the objective widened to
encompass understanding various other linked ideas like sanitation and space, and the
attitudes and practices of the residents regarding these ideas. The focus audience of the
research also extended to people outside the scope of the school.

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STAKEHOLDERS
The different stakeholder groups that samples were taken from for the purpose of the research
were:
School
- Primary and secondary school teachers
- 4th standard students
- 8th standard students
- Teach for India teachers
- Trustee of Chhatrapati Shivaji School
- School watchman
- Parents from the PTA of the school
Community
- Residents (3 from each area)
- Shopkeepers
- Fathers
- Rashtrawadi Congress Party member
- Traffic warden
- Adapt Foundation
- Manila Mandal
- Dharavi tour guide
- Community outreach program
Authorities
- BMC ward office:
o Licensing, shop establishment, project head, assistant engineer of environment,
assistant ward officer
- Doctor from Sion hospital
- Police from Dharavi Police Station

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TOOLS
I. Interviews
RESIDENTS
1. Which area do you belong to?
2. Do your children go to school?
 Every day?
3. How do they go to school?
4. Does anyone accompany the children?
 Who accompanies them?
 What is the mode of the transport used?
5. Have you ever given any tips to the person who is accompanying?
6. Do you have a bike/motorcycle?
 If yes, what do you use it for?
 How often?
 Is it used to drop the children to school?
 Who rides the bike?
 How many go at a time?
 Is it safe?
 Do you the children ride it too sometimes?
 Where do they take the bike?
 Has the child suffered any injury?
 What are the precautions needed?
7. Where do the children play in the Nagar?
 What games do they play?
 Do they play on the main road?
 Do the adults supervise them while they are playing?
8. As per you, is safety on road for children, an issue?
9. In the years, have there been any mishaps with children in the neighborhood?
 What kind of dangers do they face?
 Has any action been taken regarding the same?
10. What precautions do you take to prevent these?
11. Have you seen traffic cops on duty in this area?
12. Do you think traffic cops helps in terms of road safety? Why?
13. Have you and your family faced any trouble?

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14. Do you think cleanliness is also a major reason why safety measures are not fulfilled?
Are they connected?
15. In your opinion are the roads safe?
 Do the children face risk in traffic?
 Are there any potholes on the road?
 Are there any dangers on the road where the kids are playing?
16.
17. Have you heard of any campaign on road safety in this area?
 Where did you see it?
 Was it useful?
 How can it be improved?
18. What suggestions will you give for our campaign on Road Safety?
WATCHMAN
1. Since when are you working here?
2. How do you manage the crowd?
3. Do you have someone to help you?
4. How many hours do you work?
5. When was the big gate (at the maid road) of the school, closed?
6. Was it done because of any accident?
7. If a kid meets with an accident, what do you do?
8. Do you know the school has a first-aid kit?
9. What do you think is safety?
10. Do you think it is high on priority list?
11. What are the problems on the road you have noticed?
12. Has the school taken legitimate steps in felicitating road safety? If yes, what are they?
13. Do you think the police is helpful?
14. What was the last accident you remember?
15. Do you know any past campaigns? Where did they lack?
16. What suggestions will you give for our campaign?
NAGAR-SEVAK
1. Is there any lawful procedure through which Nagar Pramukhs/Sevaks are elected?
2. Since when have you been doing this work?
3. Who was handling it before?
4. How and when will be the next one elected?
5. What are the duties and responsibilities vested on you?

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6. In terms of your work, do you receive voluntary support from the community?
7. Does the BMC assist you in your work?
8. Where do the funds come from?
9. Are you aware of any Government scheme/plan/program made to help you?
10. What are the five major issues faced by this nagar and area?
11. Do all your Nagar Sevaks work in co-ordination?
12. Do you face any resistance in implementing your plans?
13. What do you think about road safety in this area?
14. Was there any ex-campaign for safety within the community?
15. What kind of media exposure exists in the community?
16. Are there any activities done to mobilize the community?
17. What suggestions would you give us for our campaign?
SCHOOL TRUSTEE (EX-MLA)
1. What is your vision for the school?
2. Do you have any specific goal that you are working for?
3. What are the present projects that are going on enhance the infrastructure of the
school?
4. Do you think the school has a responsibility in improving the infrastructure for the
safety on roads?
5. What role does the school play in teaching the importance of road safety to the
students?
6. What do you have to say about the potholes on the footpath just outside the school?
7. Have you, as an ex MLA taken any step to address this problem?
8. What is your suggestion for the infrastructure to the system?
9. Do you remember any past campaigns on Road Safety?
10. What are your suggestions for our campaign?
POLICITIAN/NGO OWNER
1. What kind of work do you do? Do you face any resistance in your work (since you are
active in politics and social work at6 the same time)?
2. What is the political set-up of this area like?
3. What are the major problems faced by the people here?
BMC OFFICIALS
LICENSE OFFICE
1. How many people do you have under you?

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2. What is the kind of work that is covered under your supervision?
3. Who is the Head of Department?
4. What are the guidelines for giving the license?
5. How many shops are there in Dharavi that have the license?
6. What is the renew process for the same?
7. How many applications for license come every day?
8. Do you have Inspection Officer who keeps a check?
9. What are the fees for the license?
10. What happens if any application is cancelled?
ENCROACHMENT OFFICE
1. What is the major area of work that your department covers?
2. What are the guidelines do you follow?
3. What are the major practices that go beyond your set of rules?
4. How does your team keep a check?
5. Your team has how many people?
6. What are the difficulties that you face?
7. Can you tell us why the shops have extended their area on the footpath near the Sion
Station Signal?
8. Any action that you plan to take?
9. Do the licensed shops also create problems?
10. Do you remember any past program regarding safety?
11. Can you tell us about any on-going program regarding Encroachment?
PROJECT OF DEVELOPMENT OFFICE
1. What different plans or programs have you initiated in this area?
2. What is the on-going plan if any?
3. How is the area in terms of its population, its activities, occupations and the kind of road
infrastructure?
4. What are the problems you face when it comes to implementing a certain plan?
5. What are the major problems in terms of geographical limitations, residential support,
government or any other external forces?
6. How do you plan to tackle the adverse forces or the problems that hinder your project?
7. How many people work under you?
8. Do you also take contracts for the fulfillment of your projects?
9. How do you address the numerous applications that are filed for different needs and
also complaints?

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NGO
1. What isAdapt foundation?Howmanybranches?Name of thiscenter?
2. What isthe age that a childcan come to yourcenter?
3. How are the teachersappointedto trainthe children?
4. How doesthe foundationreceive funds?
5. How can one be a part of your foundation?How manyare currentlythere inthiscenter?
6. What are the differentactivitiesthe teachersconductwiththe children?
7. Apart fromteachersisthere anyone else whohelpsthe children?
8. What are the problemsfacedoutside the center?
9. Anychildinyour centerwhoisa victimof road accident?
10. Why doyou thinksuchaccidentsare takingplace?
11. Doesanyone complaintothe police afteranaccidenthas takingplace?
12. Doesyour foundationmake arrangementinlegal matters?
13. We have observedthathalf of the road isoccupiedbyparkedvehicles.Doesthathappenvery
often?
14. What can be done toremove illegal parking?
15. Do youteach yourchildrenaboutroad safety?
16. Is there anycleanlinessprobleminthisarea?
17. Under whichwarddoesthiscenterfall under?
18. Have you seena trafficpolice ondutyinthisarea?
19. Whichis the nearestpolice station?
20. Are you aware of any road safetycampaign,orany organizationthatdealswithroadsafety?
21. Anysuggestionsonhowtochange the road
II. Focus Group Discussions
FATHERS
1. What do you do?
2. What are your job timings?
3. How do you commute?
4. Does your wife work too?
5. Do you have kids? How many?
6. Which school do they study in?
7. Do you ever go to drop them?
8. How much do your kids have to walk?
9. Do you think it is safe?
10. Do you think there are any dangerous spots?
11. What makes it dangerous?

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12. The routes that you and your kids follow, do you think road safety is an issue?
13. What is the biggest problem regarding safety?
14. Do you think the school has taken care of facilities/precautions regarding safety?
15. Does the road lack in infrastructure?
16. How often your issues are addresses?
17. Why do people defecate in open when public toilets are built in every Nagar?
18. Are the police always on duty during all the times of the day?
19. Do they come for regular checkup rounds? Has it been helpful in anyway?
20. Have you any idea about the trucks being parked near the footpath all the time?
21. Do you know of any past campaigns regarding road safety?
22. What will you suggest us for our campaign?
TEACHERS
1. Since when have you been working here?
2. What subjects do you teach?
3. Till which standard?
4. What is the medium you teach?
5. What is the percentage of students present every day?
6. How do you come to school?
7. Where do you live?
8. Can you tell what the major areas from where the students come are?
9. How do the students come? (with parents, alone, group, public transport)
10. Do you know any hot spot areas for accidents in the vicinity?
11. Do you remember any such incidents where a student got injured?
12. Is there first-aid kid available in the school?
13. Are there any road safety lessons in the curriculum?
14. Do you know any kids who know how to drive? Where do they do it?
15. Tell us about the past interventions on road safety.
16. Is there any specific way how kids cross the road?
17. Where does the infrastructure lack?
18. What are your views on the service of a school bus?
19. Do you know of any of the teen stunts that happen nearby? Is the college nearby also a
problem?
20. Do you think Road Safety is a topic that needs to be addressed?
21. What is the general attitude of children regarding safety?
22. Have there been previous efforts made in the past to education children on road safety?
23. Do you think the efforts were effective?
24. If no, why? What would you add?

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Parents from the PTA
1. Do you walk your child to the school every day?
2. What time of the day do you find the most traffic on your way to drop/pick your child?
What are the other high-traffic roads around this areas?
3. What do you do (occupation)? Does the nature of your work prevents you from using
the roads?
4. What traffic signs do you see on the road? Do you understand and follow them?
5. What do you know about the issue of open defecation on the roads?
6. Do you think that constructing more public toilets will reduce this problem?
7. Do you have community meetings to resolve community issues?
8. Is there need for traffic personnel at any particular junction?
9. Are you aware of any previous campaign or intervention on safety?
10. Can you recollect any road accident that happened recently?
III. Observation
Observation Checklist
1. At what pace do they walk
2. Type of the road they take – a 4 lane road, a narrow lane with traffic in two directions /
one way, small lane not-accessible to motorized vehicles
3. Do they walk along the footpaths or on the road
4. If they walk along the road, do they walk on the side where they face the oncoming
traffic or in the same direction as moving traffic (vehicles come from behind)
5. Do they walk alone, with another person or in a group
a. If in a pair, which child is leading, the older or the younger
6. Do they play/are they distracted by something as they walk
7. Do they hold hands and walk
b. Is it a protective handholding or a playful/carefree/careless handholding
8. What is their reaction when they see
c. Potholes
d. Open defecation
e. Vehicles
9. How many road signals meant for pedestrians are there
10. Do they acknowledge, and follow, road signals meant for pedestrians
11. How many cops are on the route
12. Do they follow what the cops say / traffic regulations

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13. Do they acknowledge or remark on the lack of footpath/presence of shops on footpath
14. Do they follow/walk with another crowd of people when crossing a road or do it
themselves
15. Do they cross the road at the zebra crossing
16. Do they climb over the divider
17. Observer’s perception of whether the child crossed road safely
18. How fazed/unfazed do they look in the face of heavy traffic
IV. Resource mapping
Overview of our campaign area
Rajiv Gandhi Nagar
V. Activities

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FINDINGS & ANALYSES

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I. School

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Observation
Observation day 1
Observing children after school at 12.30.
The researcher followed 3 Hindi medium boys and 2 Urdu medium girls from school to home.
One boy was related to the two girls and the other two boys belonged to the same
neighborhood. They were walking from school to Rajiv Gandhi nagar which is near Dharavi bus
depot. The two girls from start till Dharavi bus depot walked on the footpath. After Dharavi bus
depot they had to cross the road. In spite there being a junction in between the divider, the
girls preferred to climb the divider in the middle and cross the road. While walking on the
footpath they held hands and didn't leave each other even while crossing the road.
When the boys left school they walked with the girls but as they reached the main road they
left the girls on their own while they walked on the side of the footpath which is on the road.
They played around while walking and even kept nudging each other. They would suddenly
move to the footpath and back on the road. One boy found his friend coming on the cycle from
the opposite direction on the same side of the road. They all got excited as he would cycle one
of them on the road. He offered to take one boy double seat but was very shaky in his riding.
The other boys continued to walk on the road and then moved to the footpath. The craters in
the middle of the footpath didn't seem to be an obstruction to them, they took big steps to
cross those craters. The boys crossed at the junction. All the students observed walked in the
direction of the traffic.
Observation day 2
Observing children after school at 12.30
The observer stood at the entrance end of the lane which connects to the main road.
2 boys walked out of the lane and walked straight onto the footpath. 2 boys walked on the
road. 7girls were pushing each other and walked on the road. The students walk in pairs or
groups. They were all walking towards Rajiv Gandhi nagar. While crossing the road the students
walk slowly. They don't run when the car is near. While crossing they look on both sides of the
road. One boy took a student double seat and rode in the opposite direction on the same side
of the road. There was a fight between two boys and the other students remained as by
standers.of the primary section come to school at the same time. They hold each other's hands
while walking. Parents assist their small children. Autos, vehicles and Bikes are frequent in the
lane.
Other observations
1. A very young boy leading his mother through the stationary traffic (near Kurla Road
signal)
2. Secondary schoolchildren kicking a stone around on the road while walking home
though there is a clear footpath next to them (next to Dharavi Nature Park)
3. Young boys hopping large potholes in the footpath without having to look at it (across
the road from Dharavi Nature Park)

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Pictures
Sion Bandra Link Road- Children walking on the broken footpath.
Sion Mahim Link Road – a closer look at the footpath near the Dharavi Depot.

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Child walking in the middle of the road
Vehicles parked on the sides of a busy road
Children walking on the divider having barbed wires

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Sanitation and hygiene issues:
Child going to throw garbage which lands outside the bins (Shatabdi Nagar)
The backyard of Rajiv Gandhi Nagar shares its wall with the Nature Park
Unattended pipelines leading to overflowing of sewage water in the road and footpath

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Open defecation

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Stakeholder: Teachers
Objective:
a) To know the problems faced by the children and students on the road
b) To know the traffic situation in the area
c) To know the initiatives and previous campaigns
Method of data collection: FDG
1.1 Secondary schoolteachers
Field work: An FGD was conducted with 5 teachers from the secondary school who taught
Hindi, History, Science, Math and Social Science to students from 5th to 10th standard. All these
teachers have been teaching here for at least 13 years now. There were 3 researchers. One
conducted the discussion, the second took notes and the third recorded the video.
Findings:
Two teachers travelled daily from Dombivali and Mulund by train and rickshaw. The rest three
resided in nearby areas and walked to school. All teachers agreed that the attendance rate in
their classes were good, and on a day-to-day basis, there were not more than 3-4 absentees.
They said that 96-97% of the children in the entire school come from different areas in Dharavi
and walk to school. Some children also came from Mahim.
All teachers echoed the same sentiment when it came to space availability. Sparse space at
homes, on roads and gullies, combined with the lack of amenities. There is no space to keep
and ride bicycles also. Apart from the English medium children, the rest three (Urdu, Marathi
and Hindi) come from very poor families. ‘Peela Bangla’, approximately 15-20 minutes walking
from the school is an accident hotspot due to a turning point where vehicle traffic and
pedestrians cannot always see each other. A lot of children come from that side. A 6th grade
student was hit by a taxi while crossing the road at Peela Bangla in 2013 and suffered a brain
clot. As it is that no one waits for the traffic signal, absence of a traffic signal at Peela Bangla
hotspot worsens the situation. When asked about the kind of problems faced on the road, one
of the teacher said, “Waise toh bhot saare hain. Abhi yahan skywalk ke jaisa. Yahan Peela
Bnagla ke side main bhi ek ban jayega toh acha hoga. Kyuki wohi side mein bhot problems
hain.”
There are 3 first-aid boxes available in the school. Teachers do the first-aid and if needed take
the children to Sion hospital if needed. No major injuries happen. The curriculum and syllabus
does in different classes does impart information and knowledge about zebra crossing and
other safe road habits. Traffic police at times teaches the children how to cross the road. Week-
long initiatives and programs on road safety are undertaken. Children are receptive to such
programs. Footpaths are dirty or there are no footpaths at all or there are shops on the

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footpaths. People complain about lack of footpath and road amenities, but due to political play,
nothing really happens. Only during elections, work is done, and that too temporary. BMC
keeps making and breaking footpaths etc. There is open defecation on the roads as well as
footpaths. Potholes and dug footpaths make it difficult to use the footpaths all the time. The
main gate of the school is shut to avoid and discourage students from coming through that area
because it falls on the main road. Skywalk must be made on the right side of the Sion station
exit. The one which already exists is hardly used by anyone. At Mahim faatak, there is no police.
People, pedestrians and vehicle drivers do whatever they wish which creates a chaos on the
road. Even if police is there, they get so fed up of controlling so many people at one time that
they give up. Young bikers of 18-19 years of age frequently speed around in their bikes and end
up hitting pedestrians. Police does punish these bikers at times. There are other issues which
require more importance than road safety in the lives of residents of Dharavi. There is no place
to live. A person on priority basis just needs a simple/basic accommodation. This is their reality.
Road safety is not a priority.
F(1.1) Analysis
Teachers agreed to a good attendance rate on a daily basis which reflects that children don’t
fall sick often and health concerns are also not a major issue (since only a healthy and physically
fit child is capable of attending classes). Amongst other things that all 5 teachers agreed upon,
the most prominent was the issue of limited space availability on roads, houses, residential
spaces and even shops. Due to lack of space, pedestrians, vehicles and even shopkeepers are
always vying for space. The problem of open defecation also springs out of less space. Even if
the police have to intervene and direct the traffic or pedestrians, the quantum of vehicular and
pedestrian traffic is so high that even the police gives up controlling and leaves the situation as
it is. Pedestrians don’t always wait for the traffic signal to cross roads. They cross as per
convenience. A need for traffic signal at the accident hotspot (Peela Bangla) was also expressed.
Moreover, lack of footpaths, potholes, dirty footpaths (open defecation, since there are public
toilets meant to be used and no concept of home toilets and garbage), or no footpaths at all
and shops covering most of the space on the footpaths was also highlighted in the discussion.
This brings out the lack of coordination, transparency and implementation on the part of
infrastructure providers (BMC, MLAs or other private players) and the community. It also
categorizes as an environment issue which means that the kind of environment makes it
impossible or difficult to plan and implement certain programs/initiatives. Children are taught
about safe road practices as a part of the curriculum also but real life problems such as dirty
footpaths and cramped space limits the scope of practicing the same knowledge. Another
notable point brought out was that since parents of most of the children are daily laborers,
hence things such as getting a torn shoe mended or buying socks etc. was also a big thing for
them. Suggestions ranged from, construction of a skywalk on the right side of Sion station, a
traffic signal on the 90feet road, buses for children from Peela Bangla (since a lot of children
come from that area), 3 buses for all the 3 major directions that the children come from and a
stricter police action and punishment. Also, since children only up till 8th standard are given free
books by the government, the teachers also suggested that free educational books and fee
scholarships could also be provided children beyond 8th standard.

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1.2 Primary school teachers
Field work: 10 primary teachers were selected randomly for the discussion which went on for
40 minutes. They taught students from 1st to 4th standard. There were three researchers. One
conducted the FGD, the second one took notes and the third recorded the video.
Findings:
There is a lack of communication between the parents and teachers. Teachers get very less
support from the parent’s side and are stressed with the entire burden of teaching kids. Parents
are mostly uneducated and financially not very well-off. They don’t bother about what is
happening in the school and the children end up wasting all the time at home. Parents lack
interest in their child’s school activities. A lot of cultural and educational activities keep
happening in the school, but the parents hardly participate. Even the children have to be forced
to participate. Some parents visit the school only once a year on the Parent-Teacher Meeting.
Some parents strongly oppose and discourage teaching sex education in school. There is no
traffic police at the Peela Bangla road. No space to walk on the road due to gutter water spread
on the road and footpath and also parked trucks occupy space on the roads. Nobody listens to
the authority (traffic police). Everyone does whatever they feel like on the road. Due to heavy
traffic and no space, even the teachers at times have to run to cross the road. 98% students
belong to Dharavi and come walking from maximum within 1 kilometer distance. In 2013, a 9th
standard student died in road accident. There is a first-aid kid which is mostly used for kids
hitting each other at school. Very minor fights etc., because these children are primary
students, even 1 minute without supervision could mean fights. English, Civics and EVS covers
issues related to road safety. 1n 2011, a person from Godrej came to talk about road safety and
hygiene. The students were educated through a movie. It did not have much impact on the
children. Children come walking to school. 50% are accompanied by parents while some walk in
groups. No one bothers to make the footpaths or fill the potholes. Work is done only during the
election time. During monsoon, potholes, dug-up roads and gutter water creates havoc for
pedestrians and vehicles both. There is a need of skywalk on the school main road and the 90
feet road because children come from these roads. 90 feet road is always full of traffic and
there is no space to walk due to market on the road itself (shops and street hawkers). Young
boys from Dharavi speed up and do bike stunts. Police finds it difficult to catch them because of
they flee in very high speed. Not seen this happening in front of the school though. Road safety
is the most important issue for primary students. Since what they learn now, they will follow
later, it’s important to teach them of road safety practically. Home environment is not very
good; hence whatever is taught at school goes in vain. Parents work most part of the day. No
time for the child. Focus more on changing the parents’ attitude and mind-set and encourage
greater participation in their child’s school life and life at home as well.

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Quotes:
“Bhot saari activities hain school mein, but koi participate nahi karte. Bacche bhi nahi karte aur
parents bhi nahi karte. Financial problem hai. Financial bhi aur participate bhi nahi katrte. Bhot
peeche lagna padta hai tab karte hain.”
F(1.2) Analysis
All the teachers voiced their concerns and expressed their views in a very vocal manner. They
were completely in tune with what was being discussed and their responses substantiated the
topics that were being talked about. They brought out how parents-teachers had a huge
communication gap which disabled them from completely educating the children in the sense
that there was no one at home to follow up whatever was taught at school. Maybe, parents
who mostly work all day don’t get enough time to talk to their kids or maybe they simply do not
understand their responsibility as educators. The issue of no traffic police at the accident hot-
spot Peela Bangla also speaks a lot about the ignorance on the part of the authorities to tackle
the traffic problem. Dirty footpaths, potholes and dug-up roads and actual maintenance work
done only at the times of election also brings out the various vested interests of political parties
(vote bank politics). The fact that the teachers believed road safety to be the utmost safety
concern for the children speaks volumes about the seriousness of the issue in itself.
F(1.1 & 1.2) Analysis for Secondary and Primary teachers FGD
Peela Bangla and the 90 feet road stand out as the accident hot-spots with common issues of
heavy traffic, no traffic police, lack of skywalk etc. and also the areas where more police and
government intervention is desired. Same goes for broken (or no) footpaths, open defecation
and potholes. A conclusion that can be drawn from this is a) initially the facility (infrastructure,
initial services and maintenance etc.) is provided, but eventually there is no one to follow it up
or keep a check; b) the facility is not provided at all where it is required the most. Although
most of the children walk to school (with parents or alone), it was noticed through discussions
with the teachers that these children have a fair idea of road safety. They know their way
around when they are on the road and it’s more of the environment itself (bad or no footpaths
forcing everyone to walk on road, lack of zebra crossing, traffic signal and skywalk) that poses a
threat rather than children’s’ behavior on the road. The contrast between primary teachers
prioritizing road safety for their students and secondary teachers talking about free educational
books and fee scholarships is quite interesting. Maybe this branches out of primary children
being more prone to dangers lurking on the roads due to their playful activities and immature
behavior on the road. It is also important to see how the teachers are deeply concerned about
the overall development of their students.

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Stakeholder: PTA members
Objective: To see the parents’ awareness on road safety, and what role do they play in terms of
educating the children
Method of data collection: FGD
Field work:
From a group of 4 researchers one researcher questioned the respondents, two researchers
took notes of the discussions and one filmed the whole discussion. There were 20 parents. The
discussion went on for 45 minutes.
Findings:
1. Our kids walk to school. One parent said that she walk her child to school because their
house in right next to the school.
2. In the morning, children can walk alone on the road, but towards the evening, the traffic
on the road intensifies.
3. Roads are dug-up at many places, which creates a major problem for us and our kids.
4. There was no previous campaign on road safety.
Analysis:
The parents were not very vocal in the beginning and seemed quite confused about what was
happening. After initial efforts of prompting, only 2-3 parents spoke. These were the ones who
spoke mostly. It seemed that they didn’t connect to the idea of a skywalk, maybe because they
didn’t use it. The mention of speed breakers and traffic signal gathered some reaction, which
again could be for two reasons. Either it could be mere exposure to traffic lights or the practice
of following the traffic signal. There were 3 parents who all the time seemed to be very
distracted and not really interested is the discussion. The reason for this could be, road safety
not being a major issue for them, or not an issue at all. Lack of awareness and education on this
topic could also be a valid reason. Others, although looked alert and interested all the time, it
they seemed to be struggling with registering the discussion and even expressing their views.
Majority of the PTA members were mothers, and just 2 fathers. Mothers said that they mostly
stay at home. Fathers didn’t speak at all. It could be possible that there were inhibitions on
both sides to talk in this kind of an environment. Lack of involvement in terms of talking and
just 2-3 parents speaking all the time could also have two reasons. Since, all the parents had
their kids studying in 8th standard, they could be of a view that their kids have surpassed the
age where they should be taught about road safety and its importance. On the issue of open
defecation on the roads and footpath, only one mother agreed to the prevalence of this

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problem. All others started looking around or down and chose to keep mum. This shows that
open defecation happens in the area, but people are reluctant to talk about it. Maybe all of
them have adjusted to this environment or maybe they are even involved in defecating on
roads and footpaths. It’s become a habit which nobody wants to change or stop. An important
point that came out was a communication gap between the children and parents. Parents said
that neither do they ask their kids about what they did in school, nor do the kids tell them. This
also brings out a broken link which might be responsible for children behaving irresponsibly on
the roads. Just because the parents don’t follow up and are not updated with their kids’ school
activities, this might be taking the kid towards doing his/her own thing. Also, the kids tend to
forget whatever is taught to them if no one follows it up at home. The task of educating the
children is solely the school’s responsibility. Parents themselves don’t consider themselves to
be elemental in imparting knowledge and education to their kids. This could be because of lack
of confidence, illiteracy and a host of other socio-economic reasons. When the researcher
asked the parents if now on they would ask their kids about what they do at school, there was
no reaction at all. This points out a rigid-attitude problem which could be due to parents not
considering it their responsibility to communicate with their kids.

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Stakeholder: 4th
standard students
Objective: To gauge the children’s awareness and knowledge of road safety practices, as well as
their practices
Method of data collection: Activities
1. Worksheet game: Among a detailed drawing, students were asked to color in only the
elements on the road which made the roads safer to walk on for them. (Instructions:
“You all walk on the road, right? There are many things on the road, right? Which of
these things on the road help you to walk on the road safely? Can you give some
examples?” Children named examples: zebra crossing, signal, looking left and right
before crossing. “So, in this picture, there are many things. Look at the picture, then
colour in only the things that help you walk on the road safely. Do not colourthe
other things.”)
Findings:
Element Number coloured in (Total: 36)
1. Skywalk 28
2. No U-Turn 27
3. No Parking (closer) 16
4. No Parking (further) 11
5. Zebra crossing (closer) 29
6. Zebra crossing (further) 18
7. Subway 22
8. Traffic police 35
9. Signal 35
10. Speed breaker 30
11. Pelican crossing 33
12. Street lights 21
13. Divider 12
14. Plants on divider 14
15. Cars 13
16. Trees 7
17. Garbage 1
18. Footpath (closer) 6
19. Footpath (further) 2
20. Bus stop 32
21. Cyclist 5

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Analysis:
The elements of the picture which are useful for road safety, i.e. elements 1-12, have been
coloured in much more than the elements not pertaining to road safety, i.e. elements 13-21,
with the following exceptions:
1. Footpaths, which are important for road safety but which in our opinion was not as
clearly demarcated as the rest of the elements pertaining to road safety in the image
(though footpaths were mentioned when the question was asked during the
introduction)
2. Dividers, which in other cases might also be considered useful for road safety, but in this
picture, was not drawn with a gap that could be safely crossed in the middle
3. Bus stop, which many children seemed to think was an important part of road safety.
Whether they understood it to be a bus stop or not is unsure – one girl thought it was
an ice cream stand. It could possibly represent a stall in their minds
Among the road safety elements which were coloured, the ones least coloured were the
signboards (No parking and No U-turn). This could be because of all the road safety elements in
the picture, these are the ones they see the least often and hence do not necessarily associate
them with actual safety while walking on the road. It also could be because these signs directly
pertain to drivers rather than pedestrians. It can also be ascertained that it is likely the other
factors are much more visible in their lives.
The children, particularly the ones from the English medium section, showed themselves to be
bright and asked smart questions. Some of them clarified that the footpath, speed breaker and
pelican crossing were what they looked like. Others asked whether the colours had to be
accurate to the colours of those elements in real life. One girl from the English medium pointed
out that there was an error in the picture; we had drawn cars on either side of the divider going
in the same direction. She asked, “This is bad for road safety, no?” We had not spotted this
mistake.
However, though some students from the Hindi and Urdu medium were also quick to pick up
on the rules, for the most part, the responsiveness from this class and the sharp observations
came from the English medium sections. This could possibly be because the English medium
students are taught by volunteers from Teach for India.
Overall, for the most part, the children showed knowledge of road safety as an issue. Though
our observations of them walking home from school do not show these factors to be a
necessity for them, or an essential part of their actual practice, the children were quick to
respond to the question asked in the middle of the introduction with the garden variety factors

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on the road essential for road safety, like the ones mentioned above. They seem, therefore, to
be aware of the condition of an “ideal” road.
2. Role play: Researchers enacted four situations in which road accidents involving
pedestrians either happened or almost happened. Students were asked to identify the
causes of these accidents, whose mistake it was, and how to do it differently in a safe
manner.
Field Work: There were two researchers and two actors. While one researcher took notes and
recorded the entire data collection activity, the other researcher alternated between
conducting the activity and acting. The group consisted of 19 boys and 15 girls from all four
mediums (Hindi, Marathi, English and Urdu) two boys and two girls from the Marathi medium.
Four boys and four girls from the Hindi medium. Five boys and six girls from the English
medium. Five boys and four girls from the Urdu medium. The researchers had five road scenes
designed. After every scene the student were asked to spot the error in the scene. A group of
4-5 were selected after every scene to spot the error. Some groups were also told to re-enact
the scene again. Students were questioned before the role play and after the role play.
The researcher (the one who conducted) began the session with some ice-breaking and
rapport-building questions with the target group. Following are the questions:
Question 1: When you come to school do you walk on the footpath or the road?
Answer: Most of the children said, “Footpath.” Two girls from Hindi medium said “Road,” but
were corrected by the group.
Question 2: When the shops occupy the footpath where do you walk?
Answer: “There is no footpath but we walk like that only,” replied a boy from the Hindi medium
Question 3: Don’t you get scared to walk?
Answer: “We cross from the zebra crossing,” replied a boy from the Hindi medium
Question 4: Where is the zebra crossing in this area (directed to the same boy who answered
Question 3)?
Answer: The boy couldn't answer
Question 5: What is the purpose of the zebra crossing?
Answer: “To cross the road,” replied two boys and a girl.
Scene I: A boy is crossing the road, car comes and hits him.

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1. Three boys and four girls immediately raised their hands. From them one boy from the
Hindi medium said it aloud that it was wrong. They said we should look both sides of the
road and walk. Of the group, 9 said it was the driver’s fault, 15 said it was the
pedestrian’s fault. When told to do the same act again they all crossed the road by
showing their hand to the car to stop or slow down.
Scene II: Two children playing with a football in between parked cars. Since there is hardly any
open and free space around for them to, they find the space between two parked vehicles very
convenient to play. Also they are sure that the cars won’t move since they are parked. Both are
struggling to kick the ball, when suddenly one of them hears the sound of a car engine starting.
He tries to alert his friend about the car and shouts out to him to stop playing. The other one
discards all the warnings because he is totally engrossed in the play. One car reverses and hits
the child.
1. 4 girls and 2 boys were selected. All 6 of them said that it was the child’s fault. He should
have not played in between cars. From the group, 16 it was the child’s fault. There was
only one boy who said it was the drivers fault. The boy said the driver wasn’t looking
behind while reversing therefore it was his fault. Putting forth the same answer to the
rest of the group, 19 respondents agreed that it was both the driver and the child’s
fault. 1 boy suggested that when the parked car goes away then they should play there.
From the whole group only one said she does skipping on the footpath. When asked
about where the children should play, one said Maidan, another said next to the
footpath and one said in the area near the house.
Scene 3: A boy is walking on the road with earphones plugged in. Cars are running on both sides
of the road. The driver keeps honking to alert the boy, but the boy cannot hear the horn of the
car. The boy almost escapes collision with the car and starts shouting at the driver instead.
1. 4 girls and 3 boys were selected. When told to correct the scenes, the students said we
need to remove the earphones while on the road. They briefed the actor as to how to
cross the road. One boy said when the signal is red then only we should cross the road.
Another boy said while crossing the road we should show our hand if the car slows
down then only you should cross. If listening to music, we should look around for cars
and consider their speed and distance from where we are crossing. If the car is coming
speeding towards us, we should move aside. The actor enacted again after suggestions.
Before crossing the road, he put his earphones in his pocket, waited for the cars to pass
and then crossed the road. The children were very happy that now he knows how to
cross the road.
Scene 4: A boy is crossing the road and a speeding vehicle hits the boy and speeds away. The
injured boy is left on the road crying for help.
1. 10 boys and 1 girl were selected. When asked what happened to the man, they said he
met with an accident. The group selected has never witnessed an accident. When asked
when you see a person in this state what should you do? The answer was, we should
help him. One boy said we should take him to the hospital. When asked but you are too

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small to take him to the hospital, he said I will inform the adults about the accident.
When we asked them to help the victim (our actor) stand up, all the children were a
little reluctant initially, but later all got together and helped him. While discussing in the
group, when asked whose fault was it, the group said it was the driver's as well as the
pedestrian’s fault. The driver wasn't paying attention while driving.
Scene 5: The pedestrian (actor) had to cross the road and didn't know how to cross .The
students were asked to make him cross the road with them. The obstacles were the cars on the
road and the divider in between the road.
1. Six boys and four girls were selected. The walked along with the actor waited till the cars
went by climbed into the divider and crossed the road. When the group was asked how
many of you cross the divider, 6 boys and 2 girls raised their hands and said we crossed
the divider only with an adult.
The activity ended with some more questions to gauge ‘on the road practices’ by these
children.
Question: When coming to school, there is a lot of traffic, so how do you all walk?
Answer: While walking we pay attention to the road.
Question: But you all are so naughty in school. You must be naughty on the road as well?
Answer: Our parents are with us that time so we behave very well.
Question: Do you take precautions while walking on the road
Answer: Two girls said yes and one boy said no
Question: What all have you learnt from this role-play?
Answer: We should help accident victims by calling the ambulance or telling the elders to help.
We should play in between cars and not to cross the road with earphones on.
Analysis
The 4th grade students were very alert and could spot the error very quickly. They were very
vocal in voicing out their views with the different scenes. The students were very eager to get
selected to give their opinions. For children it has become a habit seeing their elders behaving
the same way on the road. They don't have space to play therefore play on the footpath. But
for the children it is not a hurdle for them if they don't have a place to play along as they get
some time to play somewhere. They are aware of the wrong behaviors on the road because
their parents have taught them how to behave on the road. In some scenes because the
children could see the act leading to accidents they could easily spot the error. The girls were
more alert about the scenes than the boys. The children were seen enjoying the role play. The
students got excited even more when they were told to enact the same scene again. It was
observed that while crossing the road the students just show their hand to the vehicle because
they know that the vehicle will stop for them. They are very smart as they know when the right
time to cross the road is. They wait for speeding vehicles to pass by and then cross the road.

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They don't cross the road alone but they all catch hands and cross the road. They love giving
suggestions on how to cross the road. For them the divider is not a barrier. They climb onto it
and cross the road. Some said that they only cross the divider with the assistance of a parent or
an elder. They were eager to learn from the errors and also remembered all the 5 acts till the
end of the game.
3. Word association: The students were instructed, “If the theme is, for example a zoo,
you must tell the first word that comes to your mind when you think about a zoo. The
next person will say a word connecting to the same theme in one word. Then any one
person will be picked up to explain why you associated or how does that word
connect to the theme. For this you would have to be alert and very quick. Only 5
seconds will be given to think.”
The objective of this game was to find out what are the various things that the children
commonly associate with road safety and their observation of their surroundings.
The children from all the four mediums were gathered in the school ground. They were then
equally divided into four groups for the four different activities that were to be conducted for
them.
The group with which the association/connection game was carried out comprised of 9 boys
and 2 girls from the English medium, 2 boys and 3 girls from Hindi medium, 7 boys and 2 girls
from Urdu medium and 2 boys and 7 girls from Marathi medium. Thus the total strength of this
group was 34 students.
Findings:
The first round was a trial round and the theme was zoo. The member conducting the activity
started off the game with elephants and pointed out to a student, the student said tiger and a
few other animals came up like zebra, elephant, bear and birds.
Three rounds were played in all. The most common answers were zebra crossing, traffic,
dustbins, open-defecation, eve-teasing, traffic-signals, car, bikes, trucks, clean-up trucks, dog,
bus and plastic bags.
In the first round the list of things students associated with road safety were:
 Car
 Man
 Zebra crossing

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 Bikes
 Dog
 Father
The girl said ‘father’, she associated safety with her father as he helps her cross the roads and
she feels safe with him.
In the second round:
 Truck
 Signal
 Stone
 Trees
 Bus
 Man
 Yak
When asked if he could associate road safety with a yak he said no but he said that it followed
him around. He was asked if he had seen a yak in Dharavi for which he said yes. When asked
has it kept him safe on the road he said no.
Third round:
 Zebra crossing
 Man
 Truck
 Train and bus
The girl was asked if she could associate train with road safety and why she said train she said
no and that she said it by mistake. When asked to tell another word she said bus. For the
questions like where does she go in the bus? With whom does she travel? She said she travels
with her parents. When asked if she felt safe travelling in the bus or she felt it was dangerous
she replied saying yes she felt safe and did not think it was dangerous.
The fourth round:
 Bus
 Car
 Father
 Cycle
 Scooter

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 Auto rickshaw
 Clean-ups
The small boy could associate the men working wearing Clean-Up t-shirt as he sees them every
day sweeping the roads which makes the road clean and easy for him to walk on. When
questioned what if the roads were left dirty as we are the ones who litter them what difference
would it make? He replies saying that it will be dirty and we could fall down and will get
diseases fromthe germs. When asked where he finds garbage in this (Dharavi) area? He said
near the Nature Park. When asked what should be done about it? He said that he had a plan
that if they had garbage they should reuse and recycle it. When asked what was his idea of
recycling he said, that the things that are already used they are used to make something else.
Round Five:
 Trees
 Oil
 Trucks
 Car
 Footpath
 Bus
 Zebra crossing
 Traffic signal
The boy said that he connected to traffic signal as we should follow the signal and then cross
the roads. If signals were not followed what would happen? “Vehicles would crash into each
other.” Should signals be there around? “Yes.” When asked who all should follow the traffic
signal he could not answer.
Analysis:
From this activity we could gauge how the children were aware of the basic road safety
measures like the zebra crossing, traffic signal, use of footpath and importance of having a
clean surrounding in order to commute conveniently from one place to another. We can also
come to the conclusion of the practices followed by them like using the help of an elderly to
cross the roads and the use of public transport.

39. P a g e 38 | 71
Group discussion with the 4th standard students

40. P a g e 39 | 71
Stakeholder: 8th
standard students
Objective: To gauge the children’s awareness and knowledge of road safety practices
Method of data collection: Activities
1. Poster making: The class was divided into 2 groups. Half was asked to draw what they
believed were the risks on the road: the things that made walking on the road unsafe
or difficult. The other half was asked to draw the elements on the road that are
beneficial for road safety.
-Posters showing risk factors:
Findings:
Factors Numberof posterswiththe factor
Road sign
Zebracrossing III
Signal III
Garbage III
Trafficpolice I
Divider IIII
Potholes II
Skywalks I
Station
Hospital III
Footpath IIII
Road trafficaccidents III
Cars II
Lorries/buses IIII
Pedestrians IIIIII
Parents
Garbage truck III
Trafficcones II
Analysis:
a) Many posterstalkedaboutpollution.Inone,the onlybuildinginthe picture wasafactory.They
talkedaboutthe benefitswe getfromtrees,aboutgarbage andhow itpollutes theirwater,and
abouthow despite the large numberof garbage trucksthat frequentthe roadtheywalkon,
people eatthingsandthrowthe wrappersrightthere onthe road.
b) One respondentaddedthatpeoplewhodrinkandsleeponthe roadare bad forpeople who
walkon the road.

41. P a g e 40 | 71
c) Some wrote outproblemsastraffic,noise,pollution,potholes,andlackof signalsor dividers.
One saidthat the trafficwas suchthat whenthe put theirhandout to cross the road,the
vehicles,insteadof slowingdowntoletthem pass,spedupinstead.
d) In one posterthat depictedaroadaccident,the busthat had hitthe personwasa “picnicbus”.
In another,the accidenthappenedinfrontof twotrafficpolice.
e) One childcolouredhisentire posterblackandsaidthat a tar companynearpeelabunglatars
the whole roadeverydayand makesitdifficulttowalk.
f) Some picturesthatdidhave dividers,showedthe vehiclesoneitherside of the dividermovingin
the same direction.
g) The pedestriansinthe picturesare forthe most part holdinghands.Thiscouldbe justtoshow
amicability,butpossiblybecause thatisactuallyhow the respondentswalk.
Overall,the childrenseemednottohave understoodthe exercise because manyof themdidnotdraw
picturesspecifictothe roadthey usedor theirownarea,but rather genericroadswithgeneric
situations,drawnmore because theywereaskedtodraw on thistopicand notbecause itwas actuallya
significantproblemintheirminds.Thisleadsme tosuggestthata portionof the final campaignbe given
to decidingwhatthe respondentsare perhapsaware of butdo not considerareal issue,andconvincing
themthat itis infact an issue.
A fewpostersprovidedvaluable insightsintothe factorsthatthe respondentsthinkare problematic on
the roads, like the amountof garbage,the drinkers,andthe impatienceof drivers.Unfortunatelynone
of thisgivesaninsightintowhatislackinginthe knowledge,attitude,andpracticesof the respondents
themselves.However,itissignificanttonote thatthoughwe observedopen defecation onthe footpath
and were toldbythe respondents’teachersandprincipal thatopendefecationisaproblemanda major
cause of people nottakingthe footpath,none of the respondentsdrew it,suggestingthateitherthey
don’texperience it,ortheydon’tnotice itor thinkitisa problem.
-Posters showing benefits
Findings:
The posters contained of the following the facilities were found by the students of standard
eight in their vicinity. The tally made is purely on the basis of observation of the posters. The
total strength of this group was 17 members.
1. Zebra crossing: 10
2. Traffic signal: 10
3. Traffic police: 3
4. Bridge: 1
5. Skywalk: 3
6. Hoardings/ Sign boards: 2
7. Divider: 5

42. P a g e 41 | 71
8. Street lamps: 2
9. Footpath: 4
10. Bus stop: 3
Analysis:
As per the observations it is clear that the presence of the zebra crossing and traffic signal
topped the list of facilities that helped the students to commute safely. The divider coming
second in place could be a medium used for crossing areas where there is no other kind of
assistance. The footpath and the skywalk have also been depicted as an important necessity by
the students in such heavy traffic areas. There seems to be a scarcity of streetlamps and lack of
attention towards sign boards.
According to the comments given by these students in their posters; the convenience of the
bridge being there is largely been mentioned. This helps them safely cross the roads and train
tracks avoiding accidents. The presence of trees along the roadside and the nature park has
provides shade which makes it an easy and enjoyable walk to their school. The mention of Sion
hospital being at a close proximity to the school seems to be the life saver for small and big
accidents.
There is only one poster which has a drawing not pertaining to the topic of road safety.
Posters from exercise

43. P a g e 42 | 71
Making posters for road safety
2. Memory game:
Field work:
The game was introduced to the students as a memory recall game wherein they would be
tested for memory sharpness, alertness and recall of things that are usually visible on the road
and traffic signs. 30 flash cards were shown in two installments of 15 at a time. They included a
variety of road objects and traffic signs mixed with other random pictures which do not connect
to the road in the most direct way. Random pictures were added also to confuse the children.
Each card was held out to the class for 5 seconds. Students were given instructions to first see
and observe the signs and start writing only when asked to write and follow the time
instructions also. For each installment of the game, 1 minute was given to jot down whatever
the students remembered. It was made very clear that they have to write down and not draw
the things that they recall. Also, after the written responses were collected from the students,
the cards were once again held out to the class and they were asked what they see on a road.
These instant responses were also noted to compare the difference between;
a) Recall of ‘what do you see on a road’ when a confusion element is added
b) Instant reorganization and responses on seeing the flash cards
Findings:
Signs shown Number of children who responded
1. Sign reading STOP IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII
2. Protractor IIII
3. Two cars collision IIII IIII
4. Bike stunt IIII III

44. P a g e 43 | 71
5. 50km/hr sign IIII
6. Math equation IIII IIII IIII I
7. Stop sign IIII
8. Car IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII
9. Don’t go ahead sign II
10. Peacock IIII IIII II
11. Om Shanti Om IIII IIII II
12. No honking I
13. Anushka Sharma IIII IIII III
14. Men at work III
15. Pistol IIII IIII IIII III
16. Mangoes IIII IIII IIII IIII
17. Turn right sign I
18. Paani puri IIII III
19. Traffic signal IIII IIII IIII IIII
20. No U-turn I
21. Camera IIII IIII III
22. Zebra crossing IIII I
23. Pelican crossing I
24. Ribbon IIII II
25. Round about
26. Lion IIII IIII III
27. Elephants crossing the road IIII IIII III
28. Pot hole IIII I
29. Man sleeping on the divider IIII
30. Raavan & Sita IIII IIII
Analysis:
1. The two major road signs written down were the STOP sign and the traffic signal. 25
children wrote the former while 19 wrote the latter. This shows that these children have
more or less been exposed to an environment where these are two major things that
they notice on the road, and maybe also use (when it comes to practice). This may also
mean that there are either no or very few other road signs present in the areas
frequented by these children.
2. Car collision/accident and bike stunt was recalled by comparatively lesser children,
which to an extent reflects that either these scenes are not a part of their daily
environment or they don’t pay much attention to these issues.

45. P a g e 44 | 71
3. Speed limit, don’t go ahead, no honking, roundabout, zebra crossing, no u-turn, turn
right and men at work signs had less than 10 respondents. It is a possibility that these
children don’t see these around often, or even if they do see, they don’t pay attention
toward it. Though some children had drawn no u-turn and turn right signs, which meant
they recalled and remembered the pictorial representation and were not clear about
what the sign meant.
4. The very fact that Om Shanti Om and the car flash card garnered second maximum
recall responses (24 each), means that entertainment has a high recall value and also
the fascination for a car is what makes them retain the picture in their heads. Also, of
course, the fact these are a part of their everyday environment. Also the classical
conditioning factor plays a role here. These children must have been seeing a lot of cars
plying every day, hence the high response.
5. When the students were asked to reply by raising their hands with a yes and no, the
results were very different. Almost all the road signs and other flash cards which were
designed with intent of having some connection to roads and traffic, majority gave the
right answers. Apart from 5 children who believed that speed limit sign (card number 5)
had nothing to do with the roads, all others said a yes to it.
6. Another interesting thing revealed here was that, while 10 students believed that
potholes (card number 28) were seen on the roads, all the others said a NO for this. This
means that these 10 children must be crossing potholes on the roads or footpaths as a
part of their daily route.
7. One student said that pistol (card number 15) was also seen on the roads owned by the
police and the ‘gundas’. This shows that this child has seen some ‘gunda’ with a pistol on
the road, which brings out another aspect of the socio-political structure in this area.
The students could easily recognize road signs and things that they see on the roads from other
random pictures when asked to just look at them and reply with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, as compared to
observing them first and then being asked to write. This shows that though these children could
make out ‘on the road’ flash cards from random cards, they couldn’t really retain and recall the
same when it was jumbled up with other cards. This means there are other things like
entertainment, fruits etc. that are more important because it was retained by more students. It
also implies, that these students know what all belongs to the road but because hardly any of
those are used by them, (in comparison to things depicted in other cards), that they do not
recall it. Hence, road safety is not really a major issue for them. Though they know things that
would help them on the road and are a part of things they see on the road, the importance or
just the need of being aware about the same is not felt.

46. P a g e 45 | 71
3. Resource Mapping: Students were divided into4 groups according to the locality they
came from. The common localities that the children came from were ShatabdiNagar,
Naik Nagar, P.M.G.P colony and 90ft Road. Each group was asked to draw the road
they took to school along with things they noticed along the road e.g. buildings, shops,
vehicles etc. Each child was asked to mark his/her house on the map.
Objective: To document students' awareness about the route they take to school from the
perspective of road safety
Findings & Analysis:
Road 4
Footpath 2
Signal 2
Divider 1
Policeman 0
Zebra Crossing 1
Heavy Traffic 1
Bus Stop 2
It was the first time the students of 8th grade from all different medium participated in a
resource map exercise. Some students said that they walk unconsciously and don’t remember a
lot of the surrounding area. Some students were confused about how to draw the map. Groups
took approx. 20-25 minutes to decide how to draw the map. There was a lot of discussion
amongst the girls and boys to decide upon what needs to be added and excluded from the map.
Groups also took help from other group members in drawing the map. Apart from the
directions, children from Shatabdi Nagar mapped the Garbage Bin, Street lights, Gap in
between the divider and the BMC nature park. Children from 90 feet road mapped the market
and the junction too. Children from PMGP colony mapped the shops with their names below
their buildings.
The observation shows that some groups were very alert in mapping the directions and
surrounding. While returning home only two groups have the footpath and use it to go back
home therefore they have mapped it on their map. The divider is only seen by the Shatabdi

47. P a g e 46 | 71
Sagar group while going home. Groups have always witnessed a footpath, signal and bus stops
in their area. They have never witnessed a traffic police at the signals. Since the Shatabdi Nagar
students use the shortcut to school, therefore they have mapped the garbage bin at the
starting of the shortcut lane.

48. P a g e 47 | 71
II. Community

49. P a g e 48 | 71
Stakeholder: Residents
Objective:
a) To learn the experiences of the residents in terms of travelling on the roads; understand
the condition of the roads
b) To assess their perception of “safety” and safety on the road
c) To understand how they prioritize road safety among other issues
Method of data collection: Interviews
Area: Shatabdi nagar
Respondent 1
Respondent’s child goes to school every day – Chhatrapati Shivaji School. She used to go with
her child to school; now they go alone without difficulty. The children play on the community
space, but not on the main road. The respondent says the parents don’t worry about their kids
walking alone because there are traffic police near the signal and near Kurla, and wherever they
have to go. They are glad the traffic cops are there.
Respondent 2
Respondent’s child is in UKG and goes to school near BKC. She or her brother in law take the
child to school. She says it is very difficult to walk there, because there is no footpath and a lot
of traffic and no traffic cops. She says she wouldn’t let her child walk alone; if she has work, she
will leave it and take him to school, but she won’t let him go alone. She does not even want
older kids to take her child because even older kids cannot walk in that area. The children of the
neighbourhood only play in the community space, not on the main road, and only small vehicles
come into the compound.
Respondent 3
Respondent has a son and grandchildren. Most of them take the train/bike to go to
school/college/work. Says, “Everything is fine here” and that she does not know of any
accidents. Says uncertainly that there must be cops in the area, and if they are there then she
supposes it is good, but she doesn’t know. Does not know of any activity in the area to educate
people on road safety.
Area: Naik nagar
Respondent 1
Her child goes walking to school. Older children go alone to school, small children go with
parents. She will start sending her child alone to school only after the 6th standard. Now she is
only in the 3rd standard. Respondent says she accompanies her child to school because the
environment is not safe. She fears that she will be man-handled, kidnapped or even raped. She
says the roads are good but the environment is not good. Whenever they leave home to go out,

50. P a g e 49 | 71
respondent tells them to take care while walking. They have a garden and all the children play
there. Respondent says she has always seen them play cricket. There is no supervision because
they play in the garden and not on the road. Respondent says the roads are safe and they
haven't ever seen any potholes. Accidents happen here in the evening, but never with the
children. No precautions were taken. There are footpaths on the road but they are occupied
with shops so they walk on the roads. They always see a police man near the signal. We have a
Maruti 800 which they take to go to weddings. This is the first campaign they have ever heard
of. They would like any parties who are designing a campaign, to communicate by telling them
how to be safe on the roads.
Respondent 2
Respondent has grown up in the neighbourhood, but spent the last few months in their village;
has recently come back for his father’s health treatment. He has five children, two of whom go
in one direction and two of whom go in the other direction. They all walk to school. The eldest
child has dropped out. Respondent says that he has walked with his children to school
sometimes, to make sure they know the way and how to go safely, but has not actually given
them advice on how to walk. Since they go together, he does not worry much. The children play
near the mandir, which is not near the main road, and they don’t need supervision all the time,
though he says that sometimes they check on them, because that’s what mothers and fathers
do. Respondent says, when asked if there are risks on the road, that of course there are risks on
the road and there is a need to be careful. Respondent doesn’t know about all the children of
the neighbourhood, because it is a big neighbourhood, but his children have not been in any
accidents. He says they manage. No action has previously been taken in the community to
educate people on road safety. Sometimes there are traffic cops, which is a good thing, but not
always. Respondent says it’s important to tell children the right and wrong ways to walk on the
road.
Respondent 3
This respondent was the eldest brother whose sister studies in Chhatrapati Shivaji School. The
siblings go to the school every day. And most of the times they walk to the school. The kids
mostly go alone as the neighborhood kids go to some other school. The elder brother did give
them tips on how to walk on the roads in general long time back. They do have a bike but it is
with the father who uses it for his work. Even the eldest brother is not allowed to drive in spite
having a license for the same. The reason for not driving in Mumbai is the rush. He learnt to
ride the bike in Goa and loves only to drive in open areas. He does remember a relative of his
(mama) who died on the spot in a road accident in 2001 near Godhi. But he did not remember
any such accident in the community. The kids do not play on the main road but play near the
Nagar’s half built temple. He does consider the road safety a very important issue. He said the
no speed breakers, no signals and more potholes make the road unsafe. Since the adjacent
road is a highway, a lot of vehicles speed up too making it very unsafe for people who are
crossing the road. He reflected quite a lot on the issue of cleanliness and lack of public toilets

51. P a g e 50 | 71
which become a major reason for open defecation leading to no use of footpaths. He did not
hear about any past campaign within the community or in the school. His suggestion for the
Campaign was to take care of the parking vehicles which cover almost half of the road and
nobody has account of them. He also suggested that more public toilets would help keeping the
place clean. And hereby leading to road safety.
Area: Prem nagar
Respondent 1
He has been staying here for the last 15years. They go to Guruaikwadi School in Chunabatti. He
walks them to school. They walk on the railway tracks because it is a short cut. It is a 15minute
walk. His parents have told him about road safety but he also has some knowledge about it. If
he is there at home then he doesn’t allow his children to play outside the house otherwise they
plays on the road. There are lots of accidents that happen in and around the nagar. There are
lots of old people who fall down because of potholes in the lane. They have nagar sevaks and
RTI activist who work for them.
Respondent 2
Respondent has a son who is seven years old. He goes to school every day. She drops him off.
Sometimes she drops him till Sion skywalk, from where he can walk alone, sometimes she
drops him all the way to school. She says the skywalk is very convenient, and that they need the
same thing on this side of the signal also (this signal where she does not see a traffic cop). Her
neighbor added animatedly that they also needed a park. Respondent said that she will only
feel comfortable enough to let him go to school alone when he is around ten or eleven years
old. She holds his hand when she walks with him, but does not separately give him advice as
such, as to how to walk on the road. Usually when they have to go somewhere, they either walk
or take the bus. They have a three-wheeler for special occasions. The children of the nagar play
on the lane outside or in the gullies. Sometimes lorries come – respondent said, gesturing
excitedly, that her son’s foot partially went under a garbage truck once, and after being treated
at Sion hospital, he now walks with a limp. He had been going just across the lane to the
medical shop. When asked if she knew of any other accidents in the area other than her son,
she said, “My son’s friend was playing near the medical shop and a garbage truck went over his
stomach!” “He died?!” “No, no, he’s fine!”
Respondent 3
The respondent had three children out of which two went to the Chatrapati Shivaji School. The
kids mostly walk to the school with their mother accompanying them sometimes. The mother
sometimes just tells where to walk and how stop when the road is in motion. The family owns a
bike, mainly used by the eldest son who uses it mostly for his job. The other siblings hardly go
to the school on the bike as he leaves early for his job. The younger brother is not allowed to
use the bike. He might be given it after three years once he is appropriately old. The kids play in

52. P a g e 51 | 71
the ‘Khadi’ in their Nagar. They do not play on the main road as it is very crowded. The major
issues that the residents of this Nagar have are the potholes on the footpath which become
almost invisible in the monsoons. Rains is the most troubling thing for them. Everything flows.
The signal also is quite far and they do not have divider-cuts in between. No bridge also
calculates to danger. Road safety was somehow a prior issue for her and she also remembered
an accident which happened two years back where the kid died on the spot. She said there was
no such problem with the cops and they were pretty much doing their job. She does not
remember any past campaign that happened within the community or in the school. Her major
suggestion was take care of the cleanliness, i.e., increase the number of public toilets. That
would solve the problem of open defecation. Also, a foot over bridge was her suggestion. She
said it would help the kids to cross the road safely.
Area: Rajiv Gandhi nagar
Respondent 1
Her children go to Chhatrapati Shivaji School. One is in the 4th grade English medium, other in
7th grade and the other in 11th grade Urdu medium. She helps the children to cross the road
from there they go on their own. The smaller siblings go with the elder siblings to school. She
has always been giving them tips while going to school. Tips like how to walk on the road,
always walk in the opposite direction of the road, Walk on the corner right side of the road. This
is general knowledge, everyone knows it. Because of lack of space in the nagar, her children
play in the house. They don't have a cycle. There are lots of road accidents in the main road.
Lots of potholes too. Suggestions made that signals need to be provided at least near the
junction outside the bus depot. The children need a ground to play therefore there are lots of
accident as they play on the road. The nagar have public toilets but not in the house. The
respondent said it would be very helpful if there was a road safety campaign.
Respondents 2
She has been staying here for the past 16 years. She has four kids. Two out of four go to
Chhatrapati Shivaji School. The respondents used to assist themto school when they were
small but as they have no become big, they go on their own. They tell them to walk on the right
side of the road, to be careful when the cars come near and not to talk to strangers. 5-6 years
back she met with an accident. Her child was defecating on the footpath and to save her child
she ran cross and got hit by a car. Their life is more important than reporting to the case to the
police. Her children play on the footpath or in the playground. The roads are always dangerous.
Traffic signal and police are very essential. No accidents till now in this nagar.
Respondent 3
Respondent says everyone in the area walks to wherever they need to go. The children play on
the lane outside the houses sometimes, and on the road sometimes. They play cricket.
Sometimes they get in the way of the traffic, but the respondent says, “What to do?”
Respondent says the road outside this neighborhood has a lot of traffic and sometimes

53. P a g e 52 | 71
accidents happen. She agrees that it is a problem but does not know what she is supposed to
do about it. There have been no activities in the past that were designed to teach the residents
about road safety. The respondent says there are traffic cops near the neighbourhood and they
help.
Area: Sangram nagar
Respondent 1
He is a taxi driver living in this nagar for the past 35 years. His children go to Chatrapati Shivaji
School. The children’s mother used to drop them to school till the fourth standard. Now they go
on their own. They have given them precautions about how to go to school but since the school
is so nearby they don't have problems on the road. Resident said, “My children play in the
colony but not on the road.” He also said that there used to be potholes but now there are not.
He said 90 feet road is very dangerous; there are dividers but they are broken and traffic comes
from all sides. They need a speed breaker and a traffic cop. They have never heard of a
campaign like this previously.
Respondent 2
She has a second grade child who goes to Chhatrapati Shivaji School. She says leaves all her
household chores and goes to drop him. She doesn't allow him to be escorted by anyone else.
She tells him to walk on the side of the road. She is unaware of any accident in this area.
Children play in the nagar, not on the road. She says that there are lots of potholes on this road,
and they need a traffic police. She also says she doesn't face any problems pertaining to road as
the school is nearby. She has never heard of a campaign like this previously.
Respondent 3
Respondent owns Vidya General Store, a little corner shop in the middle of a courtyard where
there are many gullies leading into peoples’ homes. Respondent does not have children. He
says that there is construction going on to extend the width of 90 feet road for vehicles. There
is a lot of traffic and no footpaths, even bicycles cannot ride there. There are always traffic
police though. Road safety is an important issue – it would help to have wider roads and more
one-ways. However, water is an even bigger problem.
Analysis:
For the residents the environment is more important than the road. The residents are highly
affected by their environment, and they have cultivated a relationship with this environment –
a set of unofficial practices by which they negotiate and grapple with their situation. Many of
them talked about the problems of garbage and defecation on the roads. This implies that
perhaps they cannot see road safety as a relevant or pressing issue until the linked ideas of
environment and sanitation are seen to; they are right now still preoccupied with these more
basic issues.

54. P a g e 53 | 71
One example of the residents’ inability to see road safety as a pressing issue is the respondent
Sama Khan, from Prem Nagar, who said very animatedly, while looking almost gleeful, that a
garbage truck went over her son’s friend’s stomach and after being treated at Sion Hospital, he
is fine now. This is not possible, but it is still a useful response because it reflects that to
residents like her, road safety is a non-issue to an extent, and she represents residents who
have developed these unsaid unofficial practices to negotiate with the environment, and who
hence have the confidence to not take it so seriously. Also, asking respondents directly whether
they think road safety is an issue seems to have resulted in skewed responses because when
asked in a direct manner, most people, even those whose practices or beliefs do not reflect
this, would say that it is an issue. What they are not being asked is, is it one of the bigger
issues? This may be why the woman from Sangram Nagar who drops her son to school says that
there are potholes on the road, and the need for a traffic cop, but also that she does not face
many problems on the road: when looking at it clinically and objectively, there are elements of
safety that are lacking on the road; but when looking at it from the point of view of the
experiences of the residents, this may not be the case.
Many residents have been in the area for many years and are aware of the risks on the road.
Some of them actively feel they need a change, while others have gotten used to it. Most of the
smaller children are assisted to school by their mothers. Only when they are in secondary
section do they send their children alone to school. However this is also an early age to be
walking alone on main roads by other standards, and this shows a mix of confidence in the
situation, and lack of alternatives. Because of lack of alternatives, the residents develop
confidence in sending ten year olds out onto the roads to walk. This is how they build their
faith. One resident said, “They manage.” They manage because they don’t have a choice, but
they still do – like the young boy leading his mother across the road. Most of them walk rather
than taking a bus or cycle.
The children don't have a park or playground or officially designated place to play. There are
community spaces in each area, where functions happen and people park vehicles or ride their
cycles or play. However sometimes, especially in Rajiv Gandhi nagar this space does not seem
to be enough and there are children playing on the road often. In these areas, the road is
especially dangerous for kids.
Some of them say they see traffic cops every day, while others say that they hardly ever see
cops or they don’t notice. This suggests that though when directly asked, they said that traffic
police are important, perhaps, if they were not asked, they would not think about the presence
of traffic police because they do not depend on this presence of these cops, particularly
because observation shows that they cross the road with as much confidence when there is no
cop present.

55. P a g e 54 | 71
Residents don’t feel the need to complain to the police, perhaps because they don’t believe the
police can do anything about it. This implies a history of relationship with the police, wherein
the police perhaps were not involved in solving previous problems that the community had,
and perhaps they have got used to dealing with their problems within themselves. They are also
very afraid of the police as the police would blame them for the accident or illegal activities.
Some of them feel the vicinity is absolutely fine while some feel there needs to be some change
in the vicinity; in spite of there being public toilets there are still open defecation seen in and
around the area. Many of them are unaware of accidents in the area which suggests that they
have other more pressing preoccupations and that they worry less about accidents than other
things. However all of them say that 90 feet road is dangerous. Also, in the morning, the traffic
signals don’t work and it gets difficult to cross the road. The monsoon is also very troublesome
because the roads get clogged and it is very difficult to walk through it. Some residents
expressed fear that the children my get drowned while walking through the clogged water. This
also shows a concern for sanitation and the environment; the environment spreads more
diseases than the road. They need change in the environmental condition of the area rather
than the road.
Many of the residents were very suggestive when asked what changes they would want in their
vicinity, like the need for speed breakers, skywalks, or not allowing parked vehicles on the road,
suggesting that though they have gotten used to the state of these roads, have made it a non-
issue and developed practices to cope, they may still speak out if asked, or if this becomes an
issue worth discussing. This behavior can lead to a kind of campaign that encourages them to
voice their own concerns.
Politics of space
One of the issues that can help explain the respondents’ attitude towards road safety is their
attitude towards “safety” in general, which is heavily determined by their relationship with
their space, and, as mentioned before, the practices they have developed to grapple with this
space. Dharavi is a place where space as we know it is completely redefined. Public and private
space are not clearly distinct from each other; people sit and gossip on front steps, in gullies,
etc. which are technically outside their houses but which people still claimownership of in
some sense. Clothes hang out to dry on corridors, and even on the barbed wire on the divider
in the middle of the road. People do not sleep with their doors locked or sometimes even shut.
Ideas of safety can be linked to that aspect of peoples’ mindset which enables them to use
public space as though it is private space (ex. Not worry that people will steal their belongings
while they sleep, not worry that vehicles will hit them while they walk). This relationship with
their space is something that needs to be understood and considered when designing a