Pune: Pedestrians have little space to call their own on the roads in Pune. Hounded by roaring traffic while crossing, heckled for requesting vehicle owners to move back from zebra crossings, blocked by vehicles parked on pavements, walkers face a difficult time.
Even if they find a pavement to walk on, the facility itself is a threat. Ashwini Khandekar often comes to Fergusson College Road. She said the
footpaths here are a perfect case study of how pavements should never be designed.
The height is not even or as per guideline, the tiles are slippery and broken at many places. "We are often in danger of slipping on them and falling. Senior citizens find it difficult to walk. Who fixes bathroom tiles on pavements?" Khandekar said.
Rajendra Raut, head of PMC's road department, said the administration was in favour of using anti-skid tiles on pavements. He said he was aware of the complaints about slippery tiles on pavements on FC Road and the administration has planned to replace them.
Sadhana Rao, a pensioner and a resident of Shivajinagar, said among the common problems pedestrians face while using footpaths are their uneven heights and absence of proper steps to get on to the footpaths. "Stretches on Tilak Road have no such facility which prevents people from accessing the footpaths," Rao said.
Some pavements on Tilak Road are repaired frequently, some times without any reason. " I have lost count of the number of times paver blocks outside my shop have been changed this year. It leaves the pavements in constant disuse which means fewer customers and loss of business," photocopier Neeraj More said.
Elsewhere, the cement blocks have caved in because of improper grouting. Mona Mirchandani from Salunke Vihar Road had a bad fall when her foot got caught in caved-in paver blocks. " It took a whole year to heal and there is still a nagging pain," she said.
Owners of road-facing properties have trouble entering and exiting their houses. Urban street design calls for footpaths that are a convenience to pedestrians and have easy vehicular access to adjoining properties.
It suggests a gentle ramp or raised driveway at the entrance gate to the properties without altering the surface levels of the walkway.
Reshma Bhore, a resident of an old society on Fergusson College Road, said the pavement built outside their society is high and every time vehicles bump against the kerb to gain access to their gate.
The civic administration has said steps were being taken to ensure proper facilities for pedestrians, but walkers said authorities had a task before them to rectify many footpaths to make the facilities walkable.
The city has over 2,200km of road network. Of these, many roads have pavements but hardly in ship shape.
Vijay Shah, who travels to Law College Road, said unrestored tiles are a danger. Shah said, "Footpaths along the Law College Road were dug up for many days and restoration work was not done properly. On most occasions when the pavements are dug up for laying of pipelines, repairs, cleaning of chambers, restoration is left undone," Shah said.
Raut said the administration has been using different materials for better quality of footpaths, including paver blocks. There was a plan to renovate arterial roads as per the urban street design guidelines.
This work will include building better footpaths at a uniform height and without breaks. "As a pilot project, JM Road has been developed into a pedestrian friendly walkway," he said.
