The much-hyped foot over bridge at Tehsil Chowk, Dehradun does not seem to have turned popular with the pedestrians a day after it was inaugurated by the Chief Minister Harish Rawat.While many consider it a waste of time to use it others said it amounted to squandering away public fund by the State Government.
When this correspondent visited it and interacted with the pedestrians the reaction was mostly negative. Traffic police insisting on making the pedestrians to use it instead of taking the roads seem to be falling on deaf ears.“The foot over- bridge was not required. It would have been far better had they acted strictly to make all to conform to zebra crossing norms,” said Mushaid Khan, a local resident.
The refrain runs that the foot over- bridge meant to ease the pedestrians’ woes would not serve the purpose. “We faced a lot of difficulties when it was being constructed. There was hardly any space for the big vehicles to pass,” said Manish, a daily commuter. The government’s grandiloquent plan to construct eight more foot over- bridges in other parts of the city has failed to enthuse the people.
“It would be sheer wastage of money. They would not serve their desired purpose. Rather, they would compound things further. What is needed is that police and the departments concerned should be made to perform their duties rightly,” said Amar Pal.Kishan lal, an old resident, said it is a effete dream to new-make Dehradun. “The green city that it once was is giving way to the concrete jungle with the government lending its weight behind those who are disfiguring the city with impunity,” he said.