Pondicherry: Riding on open streets with no or less trees can be exhausting during summer, especially around the noon when the heat is too high to drain you out. While trees that run alongside roads provide some shade and ease the travel a little, what about those spaces which lack greenery? Planting a tree might serve as the best way to work it out, however, it would need years together to grow and provide shelter to commuters. Looking into this, the Pondicherry Public Welfare Department installed green roofs at traffic signals to comfort people travelling under the scorching heat.
Video from Pondicherry surfaces online
A video from the streets of Pondicherry captures the works of PWD in the region. It shows netted green roof fitted above the roadway for a few metres from the zebra crossing line and the traffic signal, assisting people to stay under the covering during and escaping the direct sunrays during their waiting period.
Check out the video below
The video opened showing bikers waiting under the green roof until the signal turned green. It surfaced from a junction that on the other side showed a few autos and a bus alongside others two-wheelers availing the benefits of the installed shade.
Netizens react
As the footage was posted on social media, it went viral and attracted more than a lakh views. People were closely impressed with the facility provided to the commuters. Finding it to be the need of the hour amid soaring temperatures, netizens expressed about wanting to see such installations in their cities too.
Mumbaikars started reacting to the video post and urging local authorities to take inspiration from Pondicherry and bring the system to their city as well. People from Kerala also asked their government to implement the same there. Internet users from Northern states too added to the conversation and said, "Can we do something like this for Gurgaon as well? This should be a great relief for bike riders." Meanwhile, people of Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh pointed out that the concept as keen there for years.
