Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra has brought attention to the streets of Indian cities, highlighting pavements as key elements that enhance physical safety and mental well-being. He calls for municipalities to prioritise holistic street designs that focus on the aesthetics and size of pavements.
Taking to the social media platform X, Mahindra shared a post along with few pictures from Indian streets and wrote,
“Forget the PR, it’s all about the quality of life of citizens.
Streets like these add not just to physical safety but to mental well-being.
The most important design element of all these streets are the pavements. The pavements belong to the people & they truly signal what importance a city gives to its citizens.
Every municipality in the country should adopt holistic design of streets, with pavements—their size & their aesthetic— being the most highly prioritised elements.”
The post shared by Mahindra highlighted the importance of cleanliness and hygiene in Indian cities while sharing images of the streets of Pune, Indore, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Social media users react
While highlighting the importance of Indian street designs, several social media users have reacted to Mahindra’s post, where some appreciated some cities and some criticised urban plaaning.
One of the users commented, “Beautiful streets with well-designed pavements aren’t just about aesthetics—they boost safety, mental well-being, and quality of life for citizens. Cities like Pune, Bengaluru, and Indore are leading the way. Every Indian municipality should prioritize holistic urban design.”
“Our infrastructure in the city is a joke. The money wasted in repairing poor quality roads again and again is truly preposterous,” added another.
“Every infrastructure has a saturation limit. Over capacity kills the system. Urban India is running on 10x capacity. India needs more urban centre’s to have a sustainable growth. Sadly, hollow promises of Smart city didn’t materialise in past decade,” another user said.
One of the users commented, “It’s so true that well – designed streets and pavements are about so much more than just getting from point A to point B. Pavements are truly the public space that everyone shares. They should be welcoming, safe, and accessible to all.”
Road accidents in India
Street designs in India gain importance due to rising number of road accidents in the country. In 20222, nearly 462 people died in road accidents everyday in, according to a report Ministry of Road Transport and Highways titled, “Road Accidents in India.” India has seen nearly 1,264 road accidents on a daily basis. Almost 1.68 lakh people dies in road accidents in 2022.
