Paving the way for better footpaths

In an attempt to make the city's footpaths pedestrian-friendly, a group of citizens have started documenting the poor conditions of the footpaths, and have raised their concerns with the civic authority.

The Walking Project initiative, started by the group, is doing a pilot project in Andheri East and has been mapping the problematic areas using photos to document them.

The project, which initially failed to gather steam, was relaunched in December 21, 2016. The group along with the Road Department engineers of BMC surveyed the conditions on Andheri-Kurla road and BMC took note of the suggestions the group has made.

Ashok Pai, 52, a JB Nagar resident and member of the group, said, "There is no continuation of footpaths on roads. A footpath must be at least of 12 feet wide so that people can walk freely on it. The major issues on the footpath are hawkers, encroachment due to parking and roadside stalls. As the Andheri-Kurla road will soon go under construction, suggestions made during the social audit, where officials were also present, will help fast track the project."

While the project has started in Andheri, the group has been organising different events in the city to make citizens understand the initiative and encourage them to join hands.

Speaking about the initiative, Rishi Aggarwal, a citizen activist, said, "The aim of the project is to influence the working of BMC to maintain good footpaths, develop projects in different areas in the city and encourage public awareness. The poor condition of the footpaths affect daily pedestrians, especially children. There is a need for the civic authority to control hawkers as well as parking on the footpath."

The suggestions made by the group include design element of the footpath being less than six-inch in height; it should also have a slope in the end. They also suggested that railings on the edge of the path should be removed as it does not allow pedestrians to step on the footpath when needed, and good surface quality.

"Our role is to continuously provide inputs to the civic authority and engage with them. We will also be making suggestions about the traffic junctions along with good quality footpaths. Many traffic junctions lack safety. There is no stop line or no zebra crossing marked," added Aggarwal.

The group has created a page on Facebook, and are active, posting photos and details on the page. According to the members, they are not getting active participation from the citizens. "The entire project is a crowdfunding initiative. Many citizens appreciate the efforts made by us but hardly anybody comes forward to support us voluntarily by participating in social audit or provide funds for the cause," said Aggarwal.