Urban News

The Deccan Chronicle  07.08.2010

Oct. 6: Under pressure from the Andhra Pradesh Lok Ayukta and State Human Rights Commission, that have both issued notices to it, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has decided to restore footpaths and make them pedestrian-friendly by involving corporate houses and shop-owners to share in the cost and maintenance of footpaths.

This has not found favour with urban development, traffic and transport experts, environmentalists and members of walkers’ associations, who see it as a knee-jerk, piecemeal response, when what is needed is a comprehensive mobility plan for the city in which the needs of pedestrians will be properly integrated.

Removing encroachments from footpaths and involving shop-owners in maintaining the footpaths near their shops are temporary solutions. A culture of pedestrianisation must be inculcated so that pedestrian-ways are part of the total way in which the city looks at transport. The footpaths restoration project should not be treated as a separate project but must be part of a comprehensive mobility plan for the city, the experts say. Most importantly, the government and its officials must be sensitive to the needs of pedestrians instead of planning solely for vehicular traffic.

Prof. V. Srinivasa Chary, director of Urban Governance and Infrastructure Development at the Administrative Staff College of India, says that the mobility plan of a city like Hyderabad should include “two important modes of transport — cycling and walking. Recognising walking as an important mode of transport will ensure restoration, development and maintenance of pedestrian-friendly footpaths.”

Cyclists and pedestrians should get their due share in the mobility plan, which is also a mandatory requirement under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. It should be made mandatory that no road development and road improvement plan in the city is approved unless cyclists and pedestrians are provided their right of way, Prof. Chary says.

Eminent environmentalist, Prof. K. Purushotham, said the GHMC has done some shoddy work in constructing footpaths. “The height of footpaths is uneven in the city. On some roads, the height is over 12 inches, making it difficult for senior citizens and women to climb up. The GHMC is simply trying to wash its hands off all its primary duties by outsourcing the work,” he said.

The master plan of the city should have a clear-cut policy on footpaths, Prof. Reddy said. But he pointed out that the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority has given the contract for studying and preparing a comprehensive and integrated traffic management plan to an agency that is not from Hyderabad. “It will take years for an outside agency to understand Hyderabad and its traffic. There are so many institutions in Hyderabad that could have done the study,” he said.

The danger in allowing shopkeepers to share in the cost and maintenance of the footpaths is that they might begin to feel they have ownership rights over the footpaths. As it is, shopkeepers do not allow the general public to park vehicles in front of their shops. They might appropriate this public space in other ways too.

Advertisement hoardings, bus stops, urinals etc are generally constructed on footpaths as if this is expendable space that doesn’t matter. Ms K. Kannan, founder president of the Right to Walk Foundation, who approached the SHRC that issued a notice to the GHMC, said that water and sewer pipes are dumped on footpaths and are not cleared for months. Vehicles are allowed to be parked on footpaths and garbage bins are also located here. Footpaths are often used by people to urinate because there are not enough public toilets — a mere 200 in a city of 70 lakh people, Ms Kannan said.