It was in 2019, on her journey to Madrid in Spain, that Vijayshree Pednekar, a 34-year-old Mumbai-based city planner and architect, noticed ladies figures or feminine silhouettes on visitors alerts. “I used to be astonished. I believed it is perhaps a small gesture, however a daring assertion,” stated Pednekar.
Already related to numerous tasks being applied by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Company (BMC), Pednekar labored on this one too, and months later, Mumbai turned the primary metropolis within the nation to undertake these figures at a sign in Dadar.
Aaditya Thackeray, Maharashtra’s tourism minister, took to Twitter to announce the change.
He stated, “@mybmcwardGN is making certain gender equality with a easy thought – the alerts now have ladies too.” On Friday, United Nations Ladies additionally acknowledged the essential step.
Pednekar, co-founder of The City Challenge and a resident of Prabhadevi, stated that Thackeray and the G/N ward workplace (consists of Dadar) instinctively took to the concept. “In a means, the signal additionally represents ladies ‘crossing the bounds’ and getting into the general public area. Ladies aren’t any extra confined to their homes,” stated Pednekar.
Up to now, The City Challenge was related to BMC’s challenge to introducing women-friendly sanitation services on the Gateway of India. It has additionally labored with the Proper To Pee marketing campaign, to organize tips for women-friendly sanitation areas.
“Cities want each macro and micro initiatives that guarantee safer entry to sanitation and public areas, not just for ladies but additionally transgenders and the differently-abled,” she stated.
The visitors sign initiative is a part of the ‘Cultural Backbone’ challenge by the BMC, which goals to provide a face-lift to the whole stretch from Mahim to Prabhadevi.
Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner from G/North ward, stated, “We’ve got been involving younger city planners and designers, and have been taking their solutions to enhance public areas within the ward.”