In what the authorities are touting as a first in the country, the G-North ward in Mumbai has replaced the standard male traffic signal characters with a female version in keeping with the idea of gender equality. This will be spread across a 4.5 km stretch between Dadar and Mahim.
"The initiative has been taken up so that it can help bring about gender equality. The work on it has started and new signages have been put up in Dadar," Assistant Municipal Commissioner of the G-North ward, Kiran Dighavkar said while talking to PTI on Sunday.
Authorities mentioned that this change will be done at 13 junctions on the Veer Savarkar Marg situated in the G-North ward while the first female traffic signage was installed in Dadar.
There are a total of 120 traffic signals along the way between the Mahim Police Station and the Siddhivinayak Temple in Prabhadevi, which will also cover other cultural sites like St Michael’s Church, Mahim Dargah, and Chaitya Bhoomi, the civic officials said.
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Officials mentioned that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) acquired the necessary permissions to make the changes from the city’s Traffic Police Department on July 17. The BMC has said that this project undertaken at a cost of Rs 1 lakh.
Dighavkar added that German cities like Dresden and Cologne have similar female traffic signages. Several European cities have installed gender-neutral street and traffic signs. However, Mumbai will have the distinction of being the first city in India to use female traffic signs. One hopes that this practice will be used in other cities of the country as well.
Tourism Minister and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray welcomed the move and shared the good news on Twitter. "If you've passed by Dadar, you'd see something that will make you proud. BMC is ensuring gender equality with a simple idea- the signals now have women too", his tweet read.
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