The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Clamour for footpaths What they say

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Thursday, Jul 03, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Clamour for footpaths What they say

K. Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy

S. Radha Krishna

M. Suresh

Vasantha

Rathna

“City roads are nothing but hell for pedestrians. They are difficult to use, difficult to cross. Everywhere there are eateries and restaurants and they won’t have parking lots. This is causing a lot of problems for pedestrians as well as motorists.”

M. Suresh

Charted Accountancy student

“Worldwide, footpaths are built first and then the roads. In India we are building roads, widening them and removing the footpaths in the course. For example, in HITEC City, footpaths were removed for road- widening.

HUDA Master Plan-2020 doesn’t have a single provision for footpaths on city roads. There is no point in blaming the government and officials for not building footpaths. We, citizens, should stop walking on roads and demand for footpaths.”

Kanthimathi Kannan

Founder, Right to Walk Foundation “Monappa Island road has four lanes and all of them are one-ways. Whenever I cross the road, I show my hand and ask the vehicles to stop. But none stop. Walking across the road is difficult for old people like me.

G. Narayana Swamy

Ex- army man “Always, there is a flow of vehicles on this road and we have to wait until the vehicles stop. When we were on our way this afternoon, a biker went through the puddle of filth and splashed our dresses. Motorists have to respect pedestrians but they don’t take them into account. We have to walk on the roads very cautiously since the space that is available for pedestrians is very less.”

Rathna

Employee “I am scared to walk on the roads because you never know which vehicle is coming behind you. As there are no footpaths, we walk on the road increasing the chance of accidents. Since the road works are going on, the dust is troubling the pedestrians. When we cross the road, we have to cross each vehicle carefully.”

Vasantha

Employee “You should have courage to cross the roads in our city. You should manoeuvre against each vehicle and cross the road. You must have guts to do that. I find crossing Panjagutta junction particularly difficult. It takes a lot of time. Pedestrians are entirely dependant on the traffic of the vehicles.”

S. Radha Krishna

Hair stylist

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