PUNE: As per the study conducted by the Street-Network Disconnectedness Index (SNDi) in January 2020, Pune has topped from India in the top 100 cities worldwide in terms of poor road planning and street-network disconnectedness of roads built in between 2000 and 2013.

A team of researchers led by Christopher Barrington-Leigh in collaboration with Millard-Ball, an Associate Professor in the environmental studies department at the University of California, has prepared this Street-Network Disconnectedness Index to create a global street connectivity map.

It indicates that Pune, with a score of 5.9, has secured the dubious distinction of securing the first in India and 15th in the world followed by other cities such as Kolkata, Vijayawada, Coimbatore, Mumbai, Kozhikode, Singrauli, Hyderabad and Jaipur. Convenor of Pedestrians First Prashant Inamdar said, “Unplanned growth of the city has created poor road connectivity. Several road junctions have also not been developed properly resulting in slower evacuation and congestion.”

“The net result of this is that the excessive number of vehicles are moving in a very poor quality of road,” Inamdar added.  

The report also said that bad road layouts have an impact on vehicle use which leads to higher CO2 emissions. Sourabh Gawande, a PhD scholar in environmental science, said, “Over the years, roads in the city have become narrow due to infrastructure development projects and therefore, the disconnectedness has increased in the city which led to an increase in CO2 emission level.”

Maruti Ojha, a school van driver, said, “There are many intersected roads in the city due to which, even I find driving difficult and it takes a long time to commute.”