post news network, Bhubaneswar, July 15: The 53-year-old Sura Sabas Mahapatra has come up with a novel idea. He has created the model of a ‘moving zebra crossing’ that will ease the life of the pedestrians, especially those physically challenged and elderly, who find crossing roads during rush hours extremely difficult.
Sura, who has a Masters degree in Commerce, but has been experimenting with electronic instruments for quite some time now, claims to have come up with a cost-effective and convenient mode of intervention that would not only help people cross roads without much difficulty but also has the potential to put a brake on the blatant traffic violations across the city.
“I have often been pained by the impatience the motorists in the city show. They, it seems, have no care or respect for the pedestrians, including the infirm, who want to cross the roads. A number of motorists are often seen crawling on to the zebra crossing before they come to a halt at a red light. They, in effect, make the life of the pedestrians difficult. This lack of patience on the part of the motorists and the bikers, often leads to jumping of red lights and this motivated me to find a solution that can deter them and at the same time give the pedestrians a smooth passage across the road,” said Sura.
“In order to potentially curb the menace, I have designed a model of a moving zebra crossing that will be at the same level of the surface of the road and will help the pedestrians, including the physically challenged and the elderly cross it easily. These moving zebra crossings – on the lines of moving escalators – would help the physically challenged and the elderly cross the roads with ease and at the same time would ensure that no motorists either jump the red light or stop on the zebra crossing,” he said.
When asked if the model would be cost-effective, he said, “Installing the crossing at one site will cost around Rs12 lakhs, but this can potentially cut down the need of manual posting of traffic constables at every traffic intersection, and this in spite of the presence of modern-traffic-signal system. In big cities with electronic traffic signals, not every intersection would require the presence of traffic personnel. The presence of a moving zebra crossing, thereby will ensure that the motorists and the bikers don’t jump the traffic signals.”
Sura, meanwhile, is planning to meet the state government officials, concerned with traffic movement and road safety, to discuss his model and impress on those how it could cut down the woes faced by the pedestrians when they cross the road.
