The reason they are passing through the Dadri-Banghel Road with an ear-toear smile is the fact that the Noida Authority (NA) has raised the height of the central verge.

Now it is difficult for anyone to cross the road. While the motorists are happy the pedestrians are complaining. They say it has become impossible for them to cross the road.

Says Siddarth Saxena, a resident of Sector 41, "Old people are finding it very difficult now since they cannot cross the road."

"The risk of accidents has increased since people invariably scale the divider to reach the other side of the road amidst heavy traffic," says Vineet Chaudhary of NGO Hai Umeed.

"The central verge has been made without considering the width of the road and without keeping in mind the needs of pedestrians. People have to walk at least half-a-km extra just to go to the other side of the road," he says.

Agrees Sanjeev Verma, who till recently had a shop in the market, "We have to walk down approximately 300400-m to go to the other side. I really don't understand the concept of such a high central verge."

On the other hand, motorists feel that the raising of the central verge has made driving less strenuous.

"Driving used to be difficult as anyone would just emerge from nowhere and cross the road, least bothered about the oncoming vehicles," says Subhash Chandra, who occasionally uses the road. Adds Naveen Kapila, "It is a blessing. I really appreciate the work done by the NA. Driving has become so much easy now".

The central verges at many places in the city have been raised to deter pedestrians from crossing the road amid traffic.

"The work has been done in consultation with traffic experts. We are still in the development stage. Soon, cuts will be provided in the central verges for pedestrians," says A. K. Goel, senior project engineen NA.

Meanwhile, Hai Umeed has requested the NA CEO, Mohinder Singh, to get overbridges constructed at such busy places for the safe movement of pedestrians.