Pedestrian's Nightmare: Mangalore's Disappearing Footpaths
By Rohan Sequeira
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Jul 10: Development should affect people for the good and should not in any way lead to chaos. The recent developments in the city are remarkable, with the city witnessing high rise towers, shopping malls and restaurants and concrete roads. Such development is no doubt good for the city, but it is hardly representative of what the citizens want, especially when basic amenities are missing.
The sad part of all this development is there is no space for the common man to walk. The footpaths have been swallowed up by concrete roads, shops and parking lots. The bus stands have too met the same fate. With all this chaos in the city the surprising thing is the the pathetic silence of the Mangloreans. No matter what happens we are always ready to shut our mouth and pass the buck.
The peculiarity of Mangalore is that the city has grown first and the planning is being done now. So there is very little scope for planning layouts, roads, bus stands, recreational places etc. Everything has to be adjusted according to the existing space. But this is not an unachievable task, with proper planning and timely execution pedestrians too could enjoy their walk. This inadequacy is affecting majority of the people including schoolchildren, especially as they are more vulnerable to accidents than grownups.
At times, one cannot even the question the vehicle owner for parking illegally on the foot path because there are no traffic signs which too have been removed due to concreting. Often one can see the builders selling even the ground floors of the complexes as shops which are supposed to be meant for parking as per MCC rules. Such violations lead to erratic parking which results in disappearance of footpath. The authorities have done zero investigation in such cases; since regular under-the-table pay ups have been made for those in charge. So such violations go on openly without being questioned.
Ultimately the sufferers are the people, who have to dodge every vehicle that is on the footpath. Some of the newly concreted roads from Falnir to Milagres, K S Rao Road, Railway station road, Hampankatta road near Vijay Pen Mart, from Kankandy to Jeppu have absolutely no footpaths. These are busy roads and even many of the educational institutions are situated beside these roads. During the office hours there is heavy traffic and even movement of people on these roads but to make all this worse there are neither proper traffic signs nor decent footpaths for the people to walk.
In an attempt to understand the gravity of the problem and seek possible solutions, I met Collin D’Silva, an environmentalist, social activist (Vision of Green Earth) and member of Citizen Forum, who has done an in-depth study of the deplorable and harmful condition of the pedestrian sidewalks in our city.
Following is an extract from the interview:
Considering the number of developmental works that have been taken up by the authorities in the city, what are the serious problems that these works have thrown up?
We must congratulate and thank the district administration for providing large stretches of good concreted roads, which have helped in the smooth flow of traffic. But these developmental works have also caused tremendous problems for the common people. These problems include disappearance of footpaths, poor construction of drainage, removal of bus stands and traffic signals, encroachment of public spaces and unruly parking. These problems cannot be termed as temporary side-effects of development. They are results of poor planning and equally poor execution of the projects.
We can see how careless authorities are in every work. If we see the drains which are meant for rain water, they have been used to lay electric and phone cables, water pipes etc. And these wires have been laid in horizontal manner in the drain so plastic particles get entangled in them causing blockage. So if the worker or anyone gets in to clean them he would certainly die of an electric shock.
What are some of the key reasons for the disappearance of footpaths?
The footpaths are usually used by the school children, students, daily workers and those who prefer to walk a short distance. We can say that it is the common people who generally tread on them. Every city provides spacious footpaths for the people so that they are not hit by a passing vehicle and so on. It should be there in every city while planning is being done for development. When it comes to Mangalore, we see this aspect totally neglected by the developmental authorities. It is understandable that roads are being concreted for the smooth flow of vehicles but it is miserable to see public lives being compromised. So, it seems as if we want vehicles to move safely and not the people.
While broadening roads proper space allocation has to be done for footpaths, parking should be prohibited on them and the authorities should penalise shops and complexes which have not built parking lots in their basement. Besides these issues, people should not be allowed to wash their vehicles on footpaths, since spillage of diesel, oil and grease makes them slippery. The shop owners should not be allowed to install boards and goods on the footpaths. One can see garbage bins placed on the footpaths which cause not only inconvenience but also health problems.
In what way do you think the authorities went wrong with their planning?
While a city is being developed one should keep in mind the weather and geographical condition of the place. Unlike other cities Mangalore has a very peculiar weather, as it gets extreme heat and heavy rain. The roads and footpaths have to be built accordingly, strong and sturdy. The concreting of the roads was a good move by the authorities but not the use of interlocks. The interlocks used on the roads and on the footpaths are a clear sign that authorities have made no study of the weather conditions of the city.
Interlocks can only be used in dry areas, where rain fall is very minimal. Because of the heavy rain the sand beneath the interlocks is washed away and they are disintegrated, which makes walking on them a risky affair. In some places because of moss, surface becomes slippery. On road they are like death traps. The interlocks put near Bendoor have caused havoc to the two wheelers and authorities have taken no notice of this. Even MESCOM is not aware that there should not be any electric transformers on the footpaths.
There is another serious problem with the authorities - many of the engineers and workers are from north Karnataka, who have no idea about the weather condition of this region. They have not taken the rain factor into consideration at all. In some places like near SDM college dummy ducts have been placed and the rain water just flows on the road. This kind of negligence is glaring everywhere.
The subcontracting of the tender should not be allowed since it leads to poor quality of work. For example, if a tender is given to the first person for Rs 1000, it is passed on to the second one for Rs 800 and then he passes it to the third person for Rs 600 and at the end, what we have is a footpath built with sand and some cement.
Besides footpaths, another major concern about the development process is the lack of bus shelters. How is this problem affecting the people?
It is true that all the bus shelters have been removed in the name of concreting the roads. Since it is the rainy season now there is no shelter for people and two-wheelers too run for cover. Some of the places near Milagres, Rambhavan circle, Hampankatta, PVS, Bunts Hostel and Bendoorwell where all the buses stop, people have no place to wait for the buses.
If we see near Mahaveer Circle (Pumpwell) which is the entry point to the city and city’s biggest junction it has no bus shelter at all. It is shameful that authorities have simply neglected this aspect. There should have been at least 10 bus shelters there since five important roads join there. Adding to this the road at this junction is full of potholes creating bottleneck situations in traffic. Often, long route buses too either board or unboard their passengers right on the road, resulting in traffic jam. The passengers here have to simple jump into the bus but what about the old and disabled? While creating bus stop a separate curve has to me made so that the stopping bus would get there for boarding of passengers. Places near Mahaveera Circle ( Pumpwell), Joythi, PVS, Canara College, Milagres have no such facility so that vehicles behind the bus have to wait until the buses moves forward. The municipality has been compromising with installation of bus stops where vested interests who sponsor them have forced their construction at their preferable places and not where they are supposed to be.
What are the reasons for traffic-related problems which cause accidents and injuries to the pedestrians?
There is a considerable amount of increase in the traffic specially two and four wheelers. Even long route and express buses have been allowed to ply through the city, which is not a good sign since they require large space. Many of the two-wheeler riders take their vehicles on the footpath when there is a traffic jam or signal. It happens often near St Aloysius College to Jyothi circle, Bendoorwell to Jyothi, Lalbagh to PVS. The circles installed near Kankandy, PVS, Falnir, Hampankatta are very small and faulty. They do not allow the vehicles to take a proper turn because of their size. So, often vehicles come over footpaths or hit other vehicles. Places like Hampankatta junction, Jyothi circle need overhead bridges for the people to cross. This would allow people to move safely and also ease the flow of traffic.
What should the authorities keep in mind while providing better footpath facilities to the people?
We can say it is the right of the people to demand for their space in the city and it is the duty of the authorities to provide what the people need first. The authorities, MUDA and MCC have to see to it that footpath and road work is done simultaneously. There should be two drains, one for the street water to flow, the small drains should let out the excess water into the bigger drain. The engineers should keep in mind the weather conditions of the city.
Concerning footpaths, they have to be built on a level higher than the road. This will avoid two things - first, it will protect vehicles hitting the bystanders and second, it will prevent vehicles from being parked on the footpath. The interlocks that have been laid on the footpath have to be thoroughly examined and properly laid.
To avoid parking congestion in Hampankatta area, the old bus stand parking lot could be well designed to provide proper parking space. Parking in front of schools, temples, mosques and churches should be avoided. There is no proper monitoring of the traffic by the traffic police in sensitive areas. They are usually busy either on their mobile phones or reading newspapers in the nearest shops.
To add to these developments, drinking water, toilet and waste bin facilities should be provided at least at main junctions. Many of the working women and travellers suffer from lack of such facilities.
The authorities should be aware of the problems that are affecting people, and in this way city corporators have a major role to play. It is their negligence that is the cause for all this mess.
The city's problems are increasing day by day but no one seems to be listening. A resident near Bendoor who is a regular witness to the problems suffered by two-wheeler riders due to faulty interlocks, says, "It's no use informing the authorities about the situation. The corporator seems to be turning a deaf ear to the problem. Even the interlocks which were supposed to be taken for lab tests are lying still there".
Such problems are being faced by everyone in the city. People do not even have a place to breathe freely because public places have been sold to the private developers. Often, people forget that they have two equal rights - right to freedom, and right to protest. Mangaloreans, at present, seem to be using neither.