Hyderabad: In spite of having 12 footover bridges, pedestrians in the city prefer to weave their way through heavy traffic. The footover bridges were constructed help pedestrians cross roads with heavy traffic at busy junctions.
According to traffic police, pedestrians tend to use the bridges only when it’s mandatory for them. Otherwise, they find it easier to dodge the traffic to cross the road instead of climbing the stairs to take the footover bridges.
The GHMC had planned to equip foot overbridges with escalators and elevators to encourage pedestrians to use the, especially the elderly. The FOB near LV Prasad Eye Hospital was the first to be equipped with elevators and escalators in the state.
A woman crosses the road at Filmnagar, where barricades have been placed.
Mr Satya Kumar, a pedestrain at Necklace Road said, “the overbridge is not securely covered. The FOB is not user friendly and cannot be used by the aged and the differently abled.”
Mr C. Naren, a pedestrian at Filmnagar, said, “The government should build underground subways instead of overbridges. Even though subways are expensive, people will use them instead of overbridges as not all people can climb so many steps.
He was wrong on both counts. Subways do have stairs and the subways at Koti and RTC crossroads were not used. The one at RTC crossroad has been closed.
Mr S. Adishankar of the NGO Road Craft, said, “Most overbridges in the city have vanished due to Metro Rail work. People will avoid the overbridges if they can. They will use it only if the central divider is sealed, the road is wide and has fast moving traffic.”
He too pointed out that the elderly and the physically challenged find it difficult to cross the road through thick traffic, but they find climb the stairs to use the overbridge equally difficult.
“For the FOBs to be used properly, access is very important. Sometimes, the entry and exit to the overbridges is blocked by hawkers or parked vehicles. I remember it used to be the case at Chermas, Ameerpet.”
Inspector Narsing Rao incharge of the e-challan section of the Hyderabad traffic police, said, “We often observe people that until and unless the dividers are sealed people do not use the footover bridges. Hyderabadis do not follow traffic rules until it is made mandatory.”
He said the solution was to seal the dividers at place where the overbridges had been built. “Among all the road fatalities, 80 per cent of victims are pedestrians and two wheelers. Pedestrians should be more careful and use the facilities provided to them for their own safety,” he said.
