The pavements constructed across the city during the Commonwealth Games 2010 are in a shambles. The footpaths, which are meant for pedestrians to safely traverse the length of the road without being knocked down by traffic, have now either disappeared or encroached upon by hawkers, taxi drivers and vehicle owners.
At several locations, tiles are peeling off as well. Barring the New Delhi area, the situation remains similar in rest of the city, leaving pedestrians in a fix. In the run up to the Commonwealth Games, civic agencies spent around `360 crore for beautification and improvement of pavements across the Capital.
Pedestrians have no option but to risk their lives on motorways as the pavements are unwalkable due to open drains, broken tiles and heaps of garbage dumped on them. To add to their woes, the pavements have been encroached upon by vehicles at several places occupying the entire stretch of the sidewalks forcing the pedestrians to juggle with speedy traffic. The sight is common at East Delhi’s Vikas Marg, laxmi Nagar, Jagat Puri and Preet Vihar where pavements are only for parking vehicles.
“We need to literally stand in the middle of the road to catch a bus as vehicles are parked on the pavement on which the bus stand is built. It’s very dangerous, but we have no other option,” said Priyanka, a student staying in laxmi Nagar.
Some pavements have big potholes and open drains making it impossible to even step on them. This zone of the Capital is a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Residents are exposed to life-threatening diseases such as Dengue and Malaria, which are the result of dirty stagnant water in these open drains.
Blaming the civic bodies for slackness in fixing the pavements, Sanjeev Dogra, a resident of Ashok Vihar said, “They send people to check stagnant water in our homes and fine us for breeding mosquitoes, but what about the open drains on these pavements with filthy stagnant water from last one yearIJ”
The face of West Delhi is equally appalling as the pavement dwellers feel displaced with the encroachment by vehicle owners. In Hari Nagar, Narayani, a sweeper, feels that her ‘home’ has been taken away. With half the pavement ruptured in gaps and the rest occupied by motorcycles and cars, the footpath is not for pedestrians anymore at all. According to the Public Works Department (PWD), there is no fixed cycle for revamping the pavements and roads and there is a no separate budget for the maintenance of pavements in particular.
The department spends about `200 crore every year on the maintenance of pavements, roads and de-silting of drains collectively. last year it spent approximately `700 crore for the road, pavement, drain repair works in the Capital.
“We try to keep a check on the deteriorating pavements but there is no fixed time cycle for the revamp work. The budget for face-lifting of the pavements is part of the funds released for road maintenance, de-silting of drains and similar works,” said Ravi Mathur, Director (works), PWD.