Rs 20 crore spent on footpaths

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The footpath beautification work taken up by the GHMC for the forthcoming global biodiversity conference has come as a shock to pedestrians.

Citizens accuse the civic body of wasting public money on footpaths in the city that are not pedestrian friendly.

Enquiries reveal that GHMC is spending almost Rs 20 crore on the makeover of footpaths located on either side of 125-km accumulated length of roads that would be used by CoP-11 delegates.

On some stretches, the width of the footpath is being increased by eight to ten feet. At other places, the width is being maintained at six feet. What’s more, at some places, the tiles that were removed are being re-laid along with new tiles.

As per GHMC reco-rds, there are 6,246 km of roads in the city and 3,165 km of footpaths. The Indian Road Congress has stipulated that the length of the footpaths should be at least one-and-a-half times more than the length of the roads, as pavements are constructed on both sides of the road.

GHMC chief engineer K. Suresh Kumar said the footpath work has been taken up with the idea of making them pedestrian-friendly.

“Money is not being spent on new tiles senselessly. If the existing tiles are good, they are being reused after widening of footpath, as per IRC standards. Also, five agencies have been hired to check the quality of work and contractors were made to reconstruct footpaths on an entire stretch between Masab Tank and Toli Chowki after the work done by them was found of inferior quality by a third party check,” he added.

“The first thing the GHMC should do is remove obstacles like electricity transformers, mechanic sheds and other encroachments from the footpaths. What is the fun of providing new tiles when people cannot walk uninterruptedly on the footpaths for even 100 metres? Work taken up for events such as COP-11 always end up benefitting officials and contractors, while the common man is always the loser,” said advocate and soc-ial worker Venu Gopal.

Ms Kantimathi Kannan of Right to Walk Foundation said the officials only need an opportunity to spend public money on projects. More money would have been spent on footpath makeover in case the city was to host the Olympics.

"Urination on footpaths should be stopped first. It is very humiliating for women to walk over urine on the footpath. The dignity of women is compromised. Will the GHMC stop people from urinating on footpaths after its cosmetic drive is over?" asks Ms Kantimathi Kannan.

Ali M. Hasan of Rasoolpura says Hyderabad is not a pedestrian friendly city.

"Pedestrians are forced to walk on the road as footpaths are unfit for walking. But when you walk on the road, motorists abuse you in the filthiest of language and speed away. There is no lane discipline and youngsters blatantly jump signals without being caught by the traffic police. In such a scenario, footpaths assume a lot of importance for the safety and security of pedestrians. But is the GHMC really over-hauling the footpaths with pedestrians in mind?" he asks.

City ignores CoP-11

Even as the city is gearing up to host one of the biggest events in the country, residents of the once-biodiversity rich city of Nawabs seem to be aloof from the CoP-11 activities. Or so it seems, from the response to GHMC’s online queries on the flora and fauna of the city.

GHMC and other agencies have taken the onus of preparing a biodiversity index of the city. Information is being sourced and invited about plants, animal life and other species from one and all. The civic body had called for the information on an exclusive e-mail id created for this purpose. i.e., hydbmc@gmail.com [2].

Only six e-mails have been received in the whole month, which has come as a rude shock to officials who were expecting a windfall from a city that boasts of Unani professors, teachers, environmental groups dozens of universities and research institutions, scholars, dealing with subjects related to biodiversity.

A senior environmentalist blamed GHMC for the poor response, asking how does it expect veterans to use e-mail. “Most of the hakeems do not even know what an e-mail is,” he said.

Events planned to make Cop-11 people-friendly

Several departments of the state government are orga-nising various events in the run-up to and during the CoP-11.

State zoos are being adorned with new features and during the conference, entry will be free for kids below the age of 12.

Information commissioner R.V. Chandravadan said a biodiversity run will be conducted from Necklace Road to LB Stadium on September 23. Around 5,000 people, including sports personalities and film stars are expected to participate, he said.

“State-level quiz competitions are going to be held. We have produced around 115 documentary films on biodiversity with the help of Hyderabad Film Society and State Film Develop-ment Corporation. They will be screened in all theatres,” he said.

“All historic sites of tourist importance are being illuminated and will remain open for visitors until 9.30 pm,” said tour-ism department officials.