Imphal: Not just choosing where to live, but also the place where you were born and brought up is an important factor one could be proud of sometimes. It affects so much of our lives. For people who love their town, there are often critical factors that make them stay.
For some it’s the open space or parks, for others it’s the good school system. For most, there are a number of things that make for a high quality of life in their town. But again, there are a few things that make their life dejected.
In a survey conducted by the Imphal Smart City Limited (ISCL) as a part of the Streets for People Challenge, an initiative of Smart Cities Mission, Minister Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India, there are tops three problems faced by the people or pedestrians in the Imphal city that include broken footpaths, obstructions such as parked vehicles, encroachments, etc. and garbage, stagnant water and open drains.
The survey, which was rolled out for six weeks to get citizen’s perspective on walking in the city, found that over 90 per cent respondents would like the streets of Imphal to have places to sit, rest, socialize, exercise and for children to play.
Nearly 87 per cent of the respondents, the Survey says, chose to have wide footpaths over many parking places. About 80 per cent of respondents would like to have a public park within 15 minutes of walking distance. Interestingly, about 70 per cent people don’t feel safe walking in the city.
The survey was conducted among 102 people including 75 men and 22 women. India Programme of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) also participated as the knowledge partner.
