City of no sidewalks: Curious case of Mumbai’s disappearing footpaths

Pedestrians have slammed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC as footpaths in the suburbs have been rendered virtually indistinguishable from roads due to ongoing concreting work that has radically raised the height of street surfacesA section of the Jankidevi School Road in Andheri Westmidday visited spots in Andheri West Santacruz West and Borivli East where residents bemoaned the absence of discernible pavements which they claimed poses a significant risk to their safety When midday visited various internal roads stretches that earlier had footpaths had been concreted but the pavements were missingThe underconstruction Road No 12 at Shri Krishna Nagar in Borivli East where the height of the footpath and that of the road surface are the same PicSatej ShindeAndheri WestAt Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel SVP Nagar internal roads that were being concreted were at the same level as the footpath Ratnakar Sawant a resident said ldquoItrsquos high time the contractor and authorities sped up the concreting of our internal roads which has been taking place at a snaillike pace Earlier these stretches had footpaths but now there are none highlighting that authorities are least bothered about pedestrians We fear vehicles will be parked right in front of MHADA houses facing internal roadsrdquoThe internal road at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Nagar in Andheri Westmidday observed that there was no space for pedestrians to walk freely and that illegal parking of vehicles on the now nonexistent footpath had already begun A BMC official in charge of road work at SVP Nagar said ldquoIt is true that there used to be a footpath on the internal road but while making the cement concrete road we have adopted the flush drain technique where the road is at the same level as the footpath on instructions of public representatives This will help prevent traffic congestion on the road as the width of the road has been increasedrdquoA section of Jankidevi School Road in Andheri West PicsAshish RajeThe same method had been adopted for Jankidevi School Road an arterial road at SVP Nagar which is used by hundreds of vehicles including BEST buses Mukesh Waghela a resident said ldquoPedestrian safety and footpaths are extremely importantRatnakar Sawant who wants authorities to speed up the concreting of Andheri Westrsquos internal roads right Mukesh Waghela Andheri West residentCitizens will have to risk their lives while passing through Jankidevi School Road on foot The space on either side of the stretch will be used for parking vehicles I hope the authorities provide a proper footpath for pedestriansrdquoBorivli EastConcreting work on Road No 12 at Shrikrishna Nagar has been going on for more than two months Vaishali G a resident of Shyamkunj said ldquoWe have observed that footpaths have not been made available for pedestrians after the concretisation works have been undertaken Once the road is functional big vehicles such as BEST buses will pass through the stretch In a scenario where there are no footpaths people lacking civic sense will park their vehicles anywhere And when big vehicles pass there wonrsquot be any space for people to walk Walking safely will be a thing of the past and there wonrsquot be any space left for pedestriansrdquoThe underconstruction Road No 12 at Shri Krishna Nagar in Borivli East where the height of the footpath and that of the road surface are the same PicsSatej ShindeAnju Tavkar another local said ldquoThere is a wedding hall right in front of our house Now that the footpaths are not to be seen the road outside has become a free parking space for motorists Sometimes it becomes difficult to even step out of our house as people donrsquot care if they have parked in front of our gate Footpaths for every road are a must Does the corporation not understand this basic principlerdquo Deepa Sarnaik another resident said ldquoI donrsquot understand the purpose of this whole undertaking If a footpath is constructed on at least one side of the road it would be safer for pedestriansrdquoContractorrsquos commentsRakshat Sing an employee of the company tasked with concreting Road No 12 at Shrikrishna NagarlsquoWe followed our sethrsquos orders We also know that footpaths are necessary We will make them if our boss tells us to But right now we are going about our work according to all the instructions that have been given to usrsquoSantacruz WestResidents of TPS VI Road No 3 and 4 near Chhatrapati Sambhaji Garden expressed concern about their safety in light of concreting work that has robbed them of sidewalks asking midday where they should walk if the vehicles are parked on either side of the roadTPS VI Road No 4 near Chhatrapati Sambhaji Garden in Santacruz West PicAshish RajeAjit Ajgaokar a resident of Subodh Cooperative Housing Society said ldquoBefore the roads were concreted we had footpaths on both sides Now there are no footpaths at all while on some roads only one side has a pavement Apart from walkability issues there are safety concerns Many people park their vehicles adjacent to the compound walls of residential buildings which can be misused by those who have malicious intentionsSanjay Patkar a resident of Bageshri Cooperative Housing Society said ldquoWhile the disappearance of footpaths is one issue the road surface is now higher than our buildingrsquos ground level We are definitely going to face a floodlike situation during the monsoon as there is no way for water to drain out of the premises and it will enter groundfloor flats Did the executive engineers not think about this when they planned the concreting of roads which to begin with were completely in good condition Walkability has been hampered massively with footpaths being taken awayrdquoNavneet Madan a resident of Jeevan Sangeet Cooperative Housing Society Santacruz said ldquoWe donrsquot understand the logic behind taking away footpaths Where does the BMC expect us to walk Why did the civic body not direct contractors to raise the levels of footpaths in the initial stage only Now itrsquos too late as the monsoon is just two weeks away This is the season when footpaths are needed the mostrdquoBMC SpeakDinesh Pallewad assistant municipal commissioner H West wardlsquoConcreting work is not in the purview of individual civic wards but is being done at the central level with engineers being appointed directly by the head office However if residents have concerns or complaints they can write a letter to our office and we can request the executive engineer concerned to direct the contractors to raise the level of footpathsrsquoatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params