Fines for parking two- and four-wheelers on footpaths are steep— Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000, respectively. Even so, vehicle users insist on robbing pedestrians of their right of way by parking on the pavements across the city.
Walking or crossing the road is an ordeal in itself in the city. That hemmed in feeling is bound to assail pedestrians if the safest part of a road, the footpath, is encroached upon by vehicles, kiosks, handcarts, bus stands, garbage and stray cattle.
“Footpaths should be pleasantly walkable. There are several hurdles from feeder pillars to vehicle parking. Strict action must be taken against those who don’t follow the rules,” Rajendra Sidhaye, chairman of Save Pune Traffic Movement, said.
Walkers agree that more vigilant policemen, the civic body, NGOs and citizens themselves can look at ways to protect pedestrians’ right of way.
Fergusson College student Harshvardhan Patil tags the walk from Gadgil Bridge (Z bridge) end opening to Jangli Maharaj Road to his college as a ‘tough task’.
“My father drops me off near the bridge. The walk from here is extremely problematic as most of the footpaths are lined with vehicles and vendors. Pedestrians are forced to walk on the road. It is a danger at all times,” the 20-yearold Koregaon Park resident said.
Vaishnavi Shende from Raviwar Peth said encroachment of footpaths is rampant everywhere, but blatant in the Peth areas.
A JM Road type revamp, where the footpath is out of bounds for vehicle users is necessary across the city, Shende said. “It won’t be possible for Peth areas but new areas can have it,” she added.
Relentless and persistent action from the anti-encroachment squad from the civic body can not only reclaim footpaths, but also preserve it for walkers.
“The PMC has started action against vehicles abandoned on the roads or footpaths. Over 900 vehicles have been confiscated. These include cars, autorickshaws and two-wheelers,” Madhav Jagtap, head of the anti-encroachment department, said.
The traffic branch of the Pune police also keeps an eye on such illegal parking. Vivekanand Wakhare, inspector (planning) of the traffic branch, said, “Traffic policemen regularly act against vehicles parked on footpaths as per the civic rules. Fines thus collected are shared equally by the police and the civic body.”
Hope lies in the smart pedestrian street, planned by the civic body under the Smart Cities Mission, which talks about safer infrastructure for pedestrians, cyclists and the differently abled. The initiative has planned the redesigning of 27km of streets with a road width over 18m, adequate footpath space and demarcated cycle lanes.
Source : TOI
