Man Walking Across 20 Cities For Safer Roads
Project ‘1 Crore Steps for Safer Roads’ entails a record walk from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, a distance of 3,600 kilometres, to be covered in just 60 days. Subramanian ‘Subu’ Narayanan will cover about 20 cities across South, West and North India. The road safety project envisages participation and engagement from the general public in the form of short walks to show their solidarity with Subu and #WalkWithSubu, to support the cause of arresting alarming road deaths.
Subu will be taking approximately 32 lakhs steps for the cause, however, the project aims to take one crore steps by launching a nationwide campaign encouraging Indians to walk for road safety. The walk donation campaign has already created a buzz as the campaign received 40 lakh steps as donation in first week itself. People can donate their walk at onecroresteps.com. The project is conceptualised by the NGO Drive Smart, Drive Safe, and supported by The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, NGO Arrivesafe, ACMA, SIAM, FICCI, CII-Yi and partnered by Hella, WABCO & Brakes India.
It is a historical step in the journey of making India free from all avoidable Road Deaths. In just the last decade, 1.2 million (12 lakh) accidental deaths, 5 million (50 lakh) Serious Injuries & Disabilities happened on Indian Roads. Casualties in India account for about 10% of road deaths worldwide. Beyond the fundamental responsibility to keep employees safe, companies also have a clear financial incentive to improve road safety.
“I am on this mission to raise public awareness about the difficulty of pedestrians on Indian roads, which can lead to urgent action for creating a robust system approach to Road Safety,” said Subu who works at Hella India.
The flag off happened in Kanyakumari on 28th July, and will reach Kashmir on 2nd October. The project has already initiated a nationwide public debate on the subject of road safety. Subu reached Kozhikode on 4th August where he received a rousing reception. Hundreds of engineering students of NIT-Calicut and volunteers of Bharat Scouts and Guides walked with him for 2 km. Participants released hundreds of helium colour balloons to commemorate the occasion.
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