We all talk of cars, roads, flyovers, fuel, foot-over bridges (FOB) but who cares for pedestrians? FOBs are built so that vehicles can smoothly run but do the authorities and NGOs think about pedestrians who have to go up and down 50 stairs just to go across the road.
Do the authorities and government care about the old, pregnant ladies, people carrying small kids, people who are sick and suffer from joint pains, people with luggage before constructing FOBs after FOBs.
Footpaths are meant for pedestrians but the ground reality is opposite. Footpaths go up and down with ditches, uprooted slabs of tiles, with steep slopes constructed in front of building gates so that rain water does not come in, telephone poles, parked cars, kiosks, vendors, fast-food stalls and so on make it difficult for pedestrians to use the footpaths.
People own multiple cars and these are parked on the roads and footpaths, daily and openly. To add to the pedestrians’ difficulties, authorities put barriers on the footpaths so that people can neither walk on the footpaths nor on the roads and this is done in the name of pedestrians interests, but is actually for the vehicular traffic.
Overgrown trees jutting out of the building compounds, compound the difficulties. Some enthusiastic buildings and bungalows’ owners encroach on the footpaths surrounding their building and plant many trees on it which compel people to walk on the roads.
The media too seems to be indifferent to the woes of the pedestrians and their interests.
The organisations that exist for the pedestrians, do not seem to be vocal and powerful.
Good wishes on completing one year and for prosperous long future.
-Premji Bhanushali
via email
