In government, one hand does not know what the other is doing. Lack of coordination among various departments is obvious in the construction of foot over-bridges (FOBs) at various locations in the city.
GHMC has undertaken the task of building FOBs across the city, to improve the pedestrian facilities as part of urban infrastructure. Tenders have been called for construction of a total of 52 FOBs, apart from the 16 which have been ongoing or completed pending inauguration.
However, with the Hyderabad Metro Rail offering its metro rail stations for use as FOBs, quite a few of the proposed FOBs carry the risk of being redundant. By virtue of being incorporated with the facility of alighting onto either side of the road, the metro rail stations dotting the city could be quite effective as FOBs too, officials hope. Besides, with the footpaths being barricaded on both sides, the pedestrians carry little risk of being run over by vehicles. Completion of all the three corridors of the Metro Rail project will leave 65 functioning stations to double up as FOBs. One corridor between Nagole and Miyapur via Ameerpet has been completed and is functional, while the second between L.B.Nagar and Ameerpet is all set to be inaugurated. However, GHMC officials seem to have overlooked this aspect while zeroing in on the locations for the FOBs. The bridges are being proposed within 500 metres of the Metro Rail stations at a few locations, while at a few more spots, the distance is as less as 100 metres. Some locations where the FOBs are proposed/built closer to the metro stations include, Dilsukhnagar, Kothapet, L.B.Nagar, Ameerpet, Punjagutta, Musheerabad, Erragadda, Habsiguda and Begumpet. Besides, two more FOBs in Ramanthapur are proposed on the same route as the proposed flyovers between Amberpet and Ramanthapur, and could be prone to issues of clearance from the flyover.
While admitting that the Metro Rail stations have not been taken into consideration while choosing locations for the FOBs, GHMC officials said the spots were based on the feedback from the Traffic Police, and demands from the public. “Traffic police insisted for FOBs at locations experiencing heavy pedestrian flow, especially where schools, colleges and educational institutions exist. We have selected the locations based on a study conducted by them,” says an official.
Metro Stations doubling up as FOBs has not yet caught public imagination, and requests kept pouring in for new FOBs, he said. Of the ongoing FOBs, the ones near Langar Houz, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Banjara Hills, National Police Academy, and Mufakkamjah College, Banjara Hills, and Kukatpally are complete. Eleven out of the 16 are being constructed in public-private-partnership with no cost to GHMC, while five are sponsored by the corporation.