Hyderabad: Oh! Drive-in Numaish' puts pedestrian safety at stake

Hyderabad: The entry of vehicles inside the All India Industrial Exhibition until 3pm has raised questions over the safety of pedestrians visiting Numaish. Experts say that this move can be dangerous for pedestrians as there is always a chance of driver negligence.

The All India Industrial Exhibition Society is allowing its visitors to drive their vehicles like bikes, cars, and also auto-rickshaws into the Numaish grounds with the relaxation hours till 3 pm. With low-fete for the last two years, this year people turned up in large numbers and huge rush is also witnessed during the daytime.

For the last few days, it has been observed that people are driving their vehicles inside the premises without any extra entry charges. The society said that if four people purchase tickets, we allow the vehicles inside. Following this relaxation, daily dozens of vehicles are seen on the ground, which raises the pedestrian's safety.

The 'Indian hodophiles driving diaries' who is promoting road safety across the country said that vehicles and visitors are moving on the same path in the exhibition which may lead to any untoward incident.

Recently, some accidents were witnessed where a car driver crashed into a shop after pressing accelerator instead of brake and driver mistakenly reverses into restaurant by pressing accelerator instead of brake. Harsha of 'Indian hodophiles driving diaries' said "Recently one incident took place in Medak when immediately after the vehicle's pooja, the driver pressed accelerator instead of brake and the new vehicle injured many devotees in the temple premises. This can also happen in Numaish as there is always a chance of driver's negligence," he pointed out. Even in foreign countries, the roads on which pedestrians are in more numbers are made only for them to walk and no vehicles are allowed," he added.

Even in the recent horticulture expo held in People's Plaza near Tank Bund, the officials allowed the vehicles inside the event and peoples faced difficulties," added Harsha. He suggested that instead of allowing vehicles, they can deploy battery vehicles with trained drivers, which can also be helpful for senior citizens visiting Numaish.

Shreya Shah, a visitor at Numaish said, "Exhibition is a place where various stalls are installed for visitors for window shopping. But, the stopping of vehicles at various stalls for shopping has been leading to a chaos between pedestrians and the vehicles." Another visitor, Safa Amani said "As most of them prefer to walk-n-shop in Numaish, the ones who take their vehicles, keep on honking to make their way, said Safa adding that the society must restrict the entry of vehicles."