Do pedestrians have a right to safe roadways? I am resident of Pamankada and I find that Dutugamunu Street, Sri Saranankara Road and Havelock Road among others, are veritable death-traps for pedestrians. The roads belong to the era of bullock-carts, which were pedestrian- friendly. Indeed this ‘ancient’ part of Colombo was the scene of bloody battles between Rajasingha’s brave Sinhala armies and the Portuguese invaders. Today, it is not the cruel foreigner that menaces the ordinary people of this area but the recklessly driven wheeled leviathans that barrel down these primitive roads in the firm belief that humans should get aside (or jump into drains) when the masters of the roadway loom into view. Needless to add that there are no ‘pavements ‘in this neglected part of the metropolis. Indeed, the presence of deep sidedrains with dilapidated ‘covers’ adds to the risk taken in negotiating these challenging roads. Heavy vehicles parked in gay abandon on both sides of the road add to the precariousness of life of the poor who are forced to walk. The upper class whiz past in swanky cars while the able-bodied middle class ride in buses. Working women, the elderly destitute and the less fortunate among the children perforce walk.

The important issue can be stated as follows - Are roads primarily for wheeled traffic with pedestrians accommodated on sufferance? Is is not true that pedestrians have equal or better rights that cars, buses and lorries to take to the road? If this last is conceded, why are the denizens of Pamankada forced to jump into drains when a behemoth hurtles towards them without a care for life or limb? Why are these unfortunates at risk of plunging into muck-filled drains when moving lawfully (and peacefully) along roads which are supposed to be for the public good? We see wonderful pictures of clean roads and picturesque bridges in the newly-liberated North and East of our country. Why is not a thought given to this sore state of things in a historic backwater of the metropolis?