A spokesperson from the Janaagraha said the Street Quality Score (SQS) seeks to create a framework whereby quality of life can be measured objectively in different parts of a city and across categories (such as water, sanitation, environment, mobility etc.). The principal source of PM 2.5 in cities is motor vehicles,“ the study added. “PM 2.5 is a serious health concern since its smaller particles can travel deep into our lungs, and long-term exposure may be associated with increased rates of chronic bronchitis, reduced lung function and increased mortality from lung cancer and heart disease. As per the WHO guidelines, the benchmark for PM 2.5 is 25 micrograms per cubic metre,“ said the study. “The PM 2.5 score of the entire city is 35 micrograms per cubic metre of air. Out of the 917 km of streets covered, Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) 2.5 concentrations were found to be 40% higher than the permissible limit. Bad air for walkers Here's a shocker for walkers. Ideally, a bus stop should be present every 500 metres, study added. Bus stops missing Out of 1,750 km of streets covered, only 665 km (38 %) are serviced by bus stops. The minimum safety requirement is 10 lux, and the benchmark is 20 lux.In fact, we didn't even find a single well-lit road,“ said a volunteer. “Average streetlighting on 3,075 km of streets that we surveyed is 8 lux. This is used as a measure of the intensity as perceived by the human eye, of light that hits or passes through a surface. Lux is unit of luminance and luminous emittance, measuring luminous flux per unit area. Poor street lighting The study put the city's street lighting score at 8 lux. is a clearly demarcated zebra crossing with a working traffic signal or an accessible and well-lit subway or an accessible and welllit skywalk,“ said a team member. The number subways in a usable state is only six. Nightmare for pedestrians “While pedestrians are mostly dependent on zebra crossings, we found only 261 such crossings. The aim of the study was to measure the quality of street infrastructure, which included factors such as footpaths, pedestrian crossings, street lighting, bus-stops and air pollution levels. How good is Bengaluru's street infra structure? Pretty bad, going by Janaa graha's Street Quality Score 2015 done on 3,500 km of roads across the city. The study also found that only 279 intersections (9%) of the 3,256 intersections surveyed have usable pedestrian crossings.
Also, mirror ing the negligence of the gov ernments, footpaths in outer zones are worst (with only 45% walkability) compared to inner zones (75% walkability),“ said a volunteer with the study team. In many plac es, footpaths were absent in other places, they were en croached upon.
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