AHMEDABAD: It is common to see pedestrians jump into busy traffic, bound over dividers, dodge cars and leap to the safety of the opposite pavement. This is not because of some subliminal death wish, but because 72% of Ahmedabad's streets don't have footpaths.
This was revealed at the civic body's general board meeting on Wednesday by leader of the opposition Shahzad Khan Pathan. "Of the road network of 2,634km in the city, only 731km has footpaths. The rest is occupied by cycle stands, vendors or nothing at all," said Pathan.
He cited a Union ministry of road transport and highways report which stated that in 2020 and 2021, 744 people died in accidents in the city, of whom 25% were pedestrians and 43% were two-wheeler riders.
"Why do these pedestrians die? Because the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has no policy for development of footpaths. They are of different widths and materials and some are wider than the roads," said Pathan. Ashram Road has a 6m footpath along a service road, while Sindhu Bhavan Road and CG Road have 3m footpaths. On every road, footpaths are made using materials - tiles, concrete or bricks.
Pathan pointed out that the AMC recently permitted a bike sharing company 'MYBYK' to build cycle stands on footpaths at 200 places. "Most of these places are footpaths, which means they are no longer available to pedestrians," Pathan said. The AMC also has no policy for central verges or road dividers. "Instead, it has allowed roundabouts of arbitrary width. Accidents are inevitable when you don't know which lane to use or where to turn," Pathan said.
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