Footpaths should be used for the purpose they were built

Pic/Ashish Raje

Footpaths are the focus of a report about the new Delisle Bridge outside Lower Parel station, which is currently in the final stages of reconstruction. The bridge does not have any footpaths, leaving residents and commuters fuming. Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray took up the issue with the BMC but the administration responded to his letter saying no footpaths are required on the ramp, reads a report in this paper.

This bridge was closed for traffic in August 2018, following a structural stability report. Now, five years on with the bridge almost complete, commuters have realised there will be no footpaths on the bridge.

BMC Additional Commissioner P Velarasu said there is no need for a footpath and that the "railway portion has footpaths. At the end of the railway portion, there are provisions to go down to service roads and the footpath extends there, he has said.

While the needing or not needing footpaths debate will be on, we need to introspect about footpaths in general. Pedestrians need to use the footpath wherever possible, instead of walking and many times jaywalking on roads.

Having said that, the existing footpaths everywhere must be in walkable condition. They have to be cleaned, at times, corners are literally garbage bins. At other times, they have been completely encroached, and to compound problems, the area next to it becomes a parking zone. Pedestrians are walking inches away from vehicles. At other times, tiles have been removed, gaps in the footpath and broken patches make these very challenging. Shops, garages, workshops and food sellers line our footpaths, taking them over.

While the report is about the bridge, a broader, comprehensive lens on footpaths is needed everywhere. While the bridge does not have footpaths, in most places even with footpaths existent, they are non-existent for reasons cited above. Let us tackle that too.