WE THE PEOPLE
With continued illegal occupations of city footpaths, lives of Pedestrians stand put to grave risks
Hence they urge SDA, SMC officials and Police to come down heavily upon encroachers to ensure their safety and security
By: Shirjeel Ahmad
Srinagar: The roads of Srinagar city do not stand improved to cope up with heavy influx of automobiles despite huge governmental investment and continue to remain as these were some decades back. The position of footpaths is all the more worst and the pedestrians are forced to travel on the main roads, which has given rise to more fatal accidents in the capital city of the State. The encroachers have even covered the hydrants located at various places along city roads, which has increased incidence of fire hazards and road accidents. The fatalities are reported daily from one area or the other with no let-up in the situation. The latest statistical data establishes that road fatalities are on increase as there are no safety measures available and as such people urge authorities to wake-up and come down heavily upon those, who have deprived them of right to safe passage and free movement
The footpaths are provided to ensure safe passage for pedestrians and if these are illegally occupied then there is no room left for the former to escape the fatalities. In the city of Srinagar, the shopkeepers have also occupied major portion of footpaths by placing their merchandize. The hydrants provided by Public Health Engineering Department to provide water for fire-fighting purposes have almost disappeared and there is every apprehension of major conflagrations with no water available to the concerned agencies. The PDD officials have also erected electric poles on the footpaths, putting thereby obstructions to the free movement of pedestrians. It also needs special mention that the footpaths existing are not in accordance with the Indian Road Congress (IRC) specifications. There are specific guidelines laid down for their size and shape, but State Engineers have consigned these norms to flames. The pedestrians need flyovers to cross main roads as the one constructed across Moulana Azad road near Women College Srinagar has provided some relief to them , but there is dire need for more such fly-overs at several busy sections of city roads. The authorities must understand that there is population explosion, but the roads have not developed in proportion to such explosion.
“ The State Government has been pumping huge sums of money on road development in Kashmir Valley, but there has been no improvement as far as traffic flow in concerned. We receive dozens of new and old vehicles from other parts of India daily, but there is no corresponding improvement in the space available for them on the roads. The city of Srinagar is already congested which bars widening of roads and as such there is necessity for adoption of alternative methods to solve the traffic problem. In crowded cities, subways are generally provided to ensure free movement of pedestrians. These subways go a long way in minimizing road accidents. In a place like ours, there is need for more subways and flyovers for safe passage of people. No doubt, the Government has constructed National Highway Bye-Pass, connecting Pantha Chowk with Parimpora, but its completion continues to remain a distant dream. It is for the authorities to strike at several alternatives to solve traffic problem in the city of Srinagar. Presently the best possible course available with the authorities is to evict the illegal occupants of footpaths so that free and safe movement of pedestrians is ensured. It needs a joint drive against the law-breakers,” suggested a group of conscientious citizens of the city of Srinagar.
Hence, it becomes obligatory on the part of the officials of Srinagar Development Authority, Srinagar Municipal Corporation and Police to draw an Action Plan for eviction of illegal occupants of footpaths in the city of Srinagar. The officials of PHE must also rise to the occasion and ensure clearance of hydrants installed by them in the city of Srinagar. These need to be conspicuous so those fire-fighting agencies do not countenance any difficulty in times of emergency. The PDD officials must avoid placement of electric poles on the footpaths to leave free space for the pedestrians. All these agencies must know that many precious lives are lost every day in Kashmir valley due to road accidents, which reinforce necessity for a well designed strategy to minimize such fatalities.
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