Like the GHMC and surrounding municipalities in the capital, the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB), too, remains oblivious to pedestrians’ woes. In fact, the plight of pedestrians here is even worse as there are only a few pavements and no facilities for their safety.
Every year, the SCB allocates nearly Rs. 10 crore for laying new roads, re-carpeting pothole-riddled ones and for maintenance work to ensure hassle-free drive for motorists. However, when it comes to the safety of pedestrians, the board seems to be adopting a step-motherly treatment.
While the authorities claim that the length of road is 500 km and that of footpath, 300 km, the ground reality is different. Residents complain that except in a few colonies and some main stretches, there are not many pavements for the convenience of pedestrians in the cantonment spread over an area of nearly 42 sq. km.
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“It’s a basic need, but, unfortunately, it does not feature in the SCB’s scheme of things. Lack of pavements leads to many problems and accidents as well,” fumes E. Venkata Ramanaiah, president of the Confederation of Cantonment Residents’ Welfare Association.
On Trimulghery, Tadbund, Diamond Point and other main roads, where commercial establishments dot all along the stretch, several owners occupy every inch of pavements, turning them into parking lots. In most colonies, residents occupying pavements for constructing ramps and planting trees is a common phenomenon.
Though several footpaths were constructed on the main roads connecting Jubilee Bus Station (JBS) and other prime areas, owing to road-widening and other civic work, most have been damaged or could not be re-constructed, according to Mohd. Iqbal Ahmed, Assistant Engineer.
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