Footpaths vanish from the city

The city is growing vertically and horizontally but footpaths have somehow become conspicuous by their absence. Even in places where they were visible have been encroached and in certain places cordoned off with a boundary leaving pedestrians no option but to walk on main roads.

According to World Bank estimates, 55 per cent of Indian pedestrians become victims of accidents at some point in their lives. The Hans India did a recce and found that there are at least 15 spots in the city, including main junctions where footpaths have been taken over by hawkers or religious structures.

About one lakh people die on Indian roads every year and a sizable number are pedestrians who for no fault of theirs get injured and lose their life. Kantimathi Kannan, founder president, The Right to Walk Foundation says, “It has been more than nine years that we are fighting for footpaths.

All our petitions for the ‘right to walk on pavements’ to the Human Rights Commission and Lok Ayukta have been closed. Footpaths are orphans and pedestrians are refugees in their own city.”

“Sadly, footpaths are not a priority in the eyes of GHMC. Unless footpaths become a part and parcel and a very important component of city planning, things are not going to change,” she adds In 2011, the then GHMC commissioner M T Krishna Babu announced that five roads namely Road No 10 and Road No 12 of Banjara Hills, Road No 36 of Jubilee Hills, Himayatnagar-Liberty road and the road opposite Salarjung Museum would be developed as model ones with facilities for pedestrians but, the project has not seen the light of day.

While footpaths have tapered off at several places, religious structures have come up in no time. Dr T H Chowdary who contributed to the telecom revolution is saddened by the present state of footpaths, he says, “In the last two years on the footpath close to the 15 Defence bungalow near Paradise junction, the tree was first painted green, then a crescent was painted on the wall and green flags put up. And to top it all, a railing was set up completing the encroachment but the civic authorities have not taken any action.”

Near Kharkhana there were attempts to cut down a tree that is in the middle of the road but stiff opposition from locals was enough not to go ahead with the plans. In another part of the city, at the busy 6 number junction near Amberpet stands a temple bang in the middle of the road. Civic body officials say that local political pressure is too much and one cannot take action as it takes a religious colour.

Kannan says, “The problems are compounded due to multiplicity of agencies involved that deal with footpaths and pedestrian crossings.” The JNNURM programme of the Union Ministry mandates that pedestrian infrastructure in cities become an integral part of the city master plans. One look at the roads in Hyderabad however shows that scant respect was paid to the diktats of the Union Ministry.

By T P Venu