Pedestrian bridges left in a deplorable state

Poor maintenance, lack of safety has deterred locals especially women from using the overhead crossings

LAHORE:

With the government boastfully taking pride in the infrastructural lead taken by major cities across Punjab, little attention is paid to the maintenance and usability of the roads and bridges constructed in the rate race for votes, which blinds the leadership to the deplorable state of the public facilities no longer of any use to the local populations.

Such is the case of several pedestrian bridges constructed for citizens crossing the road on foot across major avenues of the city. The first pedestrian bridge was built in 1980 in front of Delhi Gate and Lundabazar in Lahore however, today it is left in a state of ruins. Apart from this, the majority of other overhead bridges too present a similar picture, with many crossings either broken, covered in filth or occupied permanently by beggars and drug addicts.

Abdul Rehman, a local revealed that the condition of the pedestrian bridge near his home was such that it took a long time to bypass the road through the bridge therefore they simply chose to cross the road. “Many female students at a government university located on the Jail Road also take the land route instead of taking the bridge,” pointed out Rehman.

Concurring with Rehman, Mehreen, a student, also believed that it took a long time to cross the pedestrian bridges. “During an inspection of the pedestrian bridges in some areas of the city, it was revealed that human waste was lying on the walkways. Unfortunately, there is no arrangement for cleaning while there are many bridges where beggars and addicts have taken refuge. Therefore, women avoid using these bridges for their own safety,” explained Mehreen.

Similarly, Mahjabeen, a resident of the Datadarbar area, revealed that she was hesitant to use the pedestrian bridges because there were drunk men sitting on the walkways, which reeked of filth. "Many beggars also sleep upstairs. People only use the pedestrian bridges where there is no option to cross the road directly, for instance at the Lahore Canal,” said Mahjabeen.

As per reports of the City Traffic Police, many accidents happen every day involving pedestrians trying to cross the road on foot. However, during the last three to four years, there has been no report of robbery or harassment of a citizen on any overhead bridge.

According to the Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (TEPA)’s Chief Engineer Iqar-ul-Hasan Qureshi currently there are 75 pedestrian bridges in the city. “If a pedestrian bridge is to be built on any highway, a 100 to 150 feet high barrier should be built in the middle of the road below so that citizens should not be able to cross the road in the middle of traffic by land route. Some elderly, sick and pregnant women are forced not to use the pedestrian bridge to cross the road. Similarly, where there is an option to cross the road from below instead of the bridge, common citizens especially the youth do not use the bridge in these areas,” he opined.