The costly FOBs constructed by the MMRDA are being ignored by pedestrians, who claim that the climb up is too laborious
The costly FOBs constructed by the MMRDA are being ignored by pedestrians, who claim that the climb up is too laborious
Even though the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has constructed a number of foot overbridges (FOB) across the city to help pedestrians, it appears that they prefer to put their lives at risk by crossing roads, instead of scaling the steps to the bridge. The common complaint is that the great heights of the bridges make them inaccessible. Even traffic police officials are of the opinion that construction of these FOBs was nothing but a massive waste of public money. The MMRDA is now contemplating a do-over, constructing subways to facilitate passengers.
Inconvenient: People neglect the expensive Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link
Road footover bridge and prefer to cross the road as they find it difficult
to climb the height of the bridge. Pics/Mahesh Chafe
JVLR FOBs
In 2008, MMRDA, taking cognisance of the alarming rise in the number of accidents on the crucial Jogeshwari-Vikhroli-Link Road (JVLR), asked for a road safety audit from the Institute of Road Transport and Education (IRTE). The report issued by the institute indicated that the construction of FOBs was the only solution to the problem. Acting on this report, MMRDA invited tenders for construction of seven FOBs at different locations on JVLR in 2009, the entire project costing an estimated Rs 7 crore. Ultimately, four FOBs were constructed by MMRDA, while Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) constructed one. But the construction seems to have done little to lessen the footfall on the roads, as pedestrians continue to cross roads, while the FOBs stand in solitary neglect.
Steep climb
Speaking to MiD DAY, Senior Police Inspector (Traffic) R C Patil of Saki Naka said, "The FOBs constructed by MMRDA are very high, because of which elderly people find it difficult to climb up. Other pedestrians too would rather risk their lives by crossing the roads, instead of taking the bridges." The official also said that rather than constructing FOBs, MMRDA should have constructed underpasses, on which pedestrians could share space with two wheelers, three wheelers and cars.
Other FOBs
After realising that a whopping Rs 25 crore had been wasted to construct 15 FOBs on the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) and the Western Express Highway (WEH), which are also given the cold shoulder by pedestrians, MMRDA has decided to construct underpasses (subways) instead, so that pedestrians can cross streets without subjecting themselves to the arduous task of climbing flights of stairs.
Last year, when MiD DAY visited the FOB on WEH near Hanuman Nagar in Vile Parle, it was found that a pedestrian had to climb 48 steps to reach the top of the bridge. The same measurements apply to the FOBs on JVLR. MiD DAY has also reported that more than 30 pedestrians lost their lives while trying to cross the WEH stretch between Bandra and Dahisar, in the time period extending from January and August last year.
In a bid to bring down the number of such accidents, the traffic police have drafted and delivered a letter to the Public Works Department (PWD), asking the body to install barricades in the middle of the roads. The PWD however, is yet to take a call on the matter. "We have also asked the MMRDA and the MSRDC to install barricades in the middle of the roads, so that pedestrians are unable to cross them. But there has been no response from the authorities," said a traffic policeman posted near Ganesh Talao on JVLR.
MMRDA has additionally spent as much as Rs 25 crore on the construction of nearly 15 FOBs, of which six are situated on the EEH, and nine on the WEH. In order to compare the relative heights of the MMRDA bridges with the ones on the Railways and the MMRDA skywalks, Team MiD DAY paid a visit to the railway FOB at Andheri, and the skywalk at Bandra.u00a0 The evidence indicated that it is definitely a more strenuous task to climb the MMRDA bridges.
Pedestrians speak
In spite of being an energetic youngster I find it difficult to climb the FOB because of its inordinate height. Like my mom, I prefer crossing the road to taking an FOB. My mom suffers from arthritis, and it is next to impossible for her to climb to top of the FOB.Yogesh Nachnekar (25), Jogeshwari resident MMRDA has wasted public money by constructing u00a0FOBs. Rather they should construct underpasses so u00a0that people can effortlessly cross the roads. Even two and three wheelers can ply on them. Abdul Majid (58), a residentu00a0 of Green Fields at Jogeshwari
Lofty heights
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