Mahra Rohtak Play(ce)making Competition 2.0

Inviting young architects, urban designers and planners to reimagine public spaces in Haryana.

The 'Mahra Rohtak' Play(ce)making competition offeres young designers the opportunity to reimagine public spaces as a means of improving the quality of lives of citizens with a focus on youth.

The competition is part of the Safer Mobility for Youth project organised by World Resources Institute India (WRI India) in collaboration with District Administration of Rohtak, Rohtak Police, and Raahgiri Foundation, along with Fondation Botnar and the Global Road Safety Partnership. Register Now

Meet the Winners

WRI India along with Fondation Botnar, Global Road Safety Partnership, Rohtak Police, District Administration, Rohtak and Raahgiri Foundation awarded 10 winners across 4 different sites.

Site 1 - Rohtak Road 1
Winner: Chandrayee Mitra, Disha Mukherjee and Simran Sheoran

Site 2 – Old Bus Stand Road
Winner: Shashank Verma and Dhvani Trivedi

Site 3 - Elevated Railway Track
First Runner-up: Akriti Kacker, Pavithra Selvam and Poulomi Naskar

Site 4 – Old ITI Ground
Winner: Krushna Lahoti and Prerna Yadav

Jury

Prof. Kavas Kapadia, Architect I Planner: Former Dean of Studies at (School of Planning and Architecture) SPA, Delhi I Former HOD- Department of Urban and Regional Planning, SPA Delhi I Former consultant to Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC)
Pranjali Deshpande, Architect and Urban Planner: Sustainable mobility professional with over a decade's experience in street design, Bus Rapid Transit, Parking policy & Transit Oriented Development related policies
Uditi Agarwal, Program Manager, Global Designing Cities Initiative: Urban Strategist, development practitioner and architect focusing on sustainable urban development through planning and design, policy formulation and project implementation

Timeline

14^th March 2023	Competition Launch and start of registrations
24^th March 2023	Close of registrations
26^th March 2023	Clarifications of questions / queries from participants
07^th April 2023	Concept Note and Design Submission
Stage 01 Jury – Shortlisting of max 10 concepts per site
18^th April 2023	Announcement of shortlisted concepts
05^th May 2023	Stage 02 Final Submission
Stage 02 Jury – Shortlisting of 01 winner and 01 Special Mention per site
19^th May 2023	Announcement of Finalists
30^th May 2023	Culmination Event & Announcement of Winners

Awards

Entries	Prize Money
Top 05 entries per site	50000/-
05 Special Mentions	10000/-

Background Context

Every year over 1.35 million people across the world lose their lives due to road traffic crashes with 155,000 people being killed in India alone.

In recent years, children and youth have become the biggest victims of road crashes. According to WHO’s Global Status Report on Road Safety 2018, road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5-29.

The Botnar Child Road Safety Challenge (BCRSC) was launched to address this pressing issue. Rohtak in Haryana was one of the 12 cities across the globe, and one of two cities in India, that was selected for support under the BCRSC project.

In the first phase, starting 2018, WRI India, in partnership with Rohtak Police, Municipal Corporation of Rohtak and NASSCOM Foundation, initiated the ‘Safer Commute for School Children’ project in Rohtak.
In July 2020, WRI India initiated the 2nd Phase of the BCRSC program- ‘Safer Mobility for Youth’ project in Rohtak. This is being conducted in partnership with the District Administration of Rohtak, Rohtak Police and Raahgiri Foundation.
In July 2020, WRI India initiated the 2nd Phase of the BCRSC program- ‘Safer Mobility for Youth’ project in Rohtak. This is being conducted in partnership with the District Administration of Rohtak, Rohtak Police and Raahgiri Foundation.
In July 2022, WRI India initiated the 2nd Phase extension of the BCRSC program- ‘Safer Mobility for Youth’ project in Rohtak. This is also conducted in partnership with the District Administration of Rohtak, Rohtak Police and Raahgiri Foundation.

Why Rohtak?

Rohtak city is the administrative headquarters of Rohtak district situated in Haryana. About 70 km from Delhi Rohtak is home to many educational institutes with a combined enrolment estimated to be over 200,000 students. Some of the biggest institutes in the city are situated along the 5 highways that slice through the city, creating isolated neighbourhoods with poor inter-connectivity - especially for pedestrians and cyclists. This forces slow-moving traffic to share the road with high-speed highway traffic. There are very few crossings on the highways forcing pedestrians and cyclists to take great risks to cross the road.

In 2017, 561 crashes were reported in Rohtak district resulting in 252 fatalities. Similarly, in 2018 and 2019, 534 and 512 crashes resulted in 212 and 205 fatalities respectively. While there seems to be a decline in crashes and fatalities occurring in the district, the numbers are still too high and need urgent redressal.

Since the age of road traffic victims is not readily made public, it is difficult to ascertain the number of youth involved in these crashes. But given the presence of a high number college-going youth in the city, it is safe to assume that they would be the most affected section of the community.

About the Partners

Botnar Child Road Safety Challenge and Safer Mobility for Youth

Safer Mobility for Youth, Rohtak project is convened by WRI India in partnership with District Administration of Rohtak, Rohtak Police and Raahgiri Foundation. The project is part of the Botnar Child Road Safety Challenge, a programme designed to address locally relevant road safety problems that affect children in small-and mid-sized cities in seven priority countries with practical, innovative, multi-sectorial and evidence-based interventions. The Challenge is managed by the Global Road Safety Partnership, a hosted program of the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies and based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Fondation Botnar

Fondation Botnar is a Swiss foundation established in 2003 with the core purpose of improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people in growing secondary cities around the world. To achieve this, Fondation Botnar acts as a catalyst, connecting diverse partners and investing in solutions that leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and digital innovation.

Global Road Safety Partnership

The Global Road Safety Partnership is a hosted program of the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies and based in Geneva, Switzerland. Its mission is the sustainable reduction of road-crash death and injury in low- and middle-income countries GRSP does this by creating and supporting multisector road safety partnerships that are engaged with front-line good practice road safety interventions in countries and communities throughout the world.

District Administration, Rohtak

The Deputy Commissioner (DC) is the highest administrative authority within a district. The DC’s office is generally headed by an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer. Every district in the state has a DC. The main work of DC’s office is to manage the overall functioning of the various departments in their respective districts. The DC is in-charge of education, health, sanitation, finance and various other tasks.

Rohtak Police

Rohtak Traffic Police is a division of the Haryana Police responsible for the enforcement and management of traffic in the Rohtak City limits. The mission of Haryana Police is to help the common man, to provide him security and to create a peaceful and law-abiding community with his cooperation. Haryana Police is committed to uphold the Rule of Law, to prevent crime and to maintain law and order.

Raahgiri Foundation

Raahgiri Foundation is a not-for-profit non-governmental organization that has been working in the field of healthy and sustainable living and road safety for 5 years. It has been engaging directly with citizens to promote best practices among them. One of the most renowned movements by the foundation has been the Raahgiri Days / Nights. It has been a great success and is currently spread across 50+ cities in India.