Pedestrian-friendly Amritsar city roads? Only on papers!

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 17

The very purpose of having footpaths is being defeated in the city. Reason: It is being used for everything else but for walking!

The lack of will to ensure the implementation of basic law that footpaths alongside roads are meant for pedestrians and not for parking vehicles or displaying goods is resulting in the misuse of infrastructure created for the use of walkers.

Be it any footpath alongside any road in the city, it primarily is being used by shopkeepers to display their products or to park their vehicles — two-wheelers and even four-wheelers. Pedestrians can often be seen using the road instead of footpaths thereby resulting in traffic jams.

Leave pedestrians, even cyclists don't seem to have any right on city roads. Sufficient infrastructure must be made available to pedestrians and cyclists, so that pollution can be checked. The city administration must free the footpaths from unauthorised use. —Shamsher Singh, A city resident

City roads are not pedestrian-friendly. Even if someone wants to avoid using his/her vehicle, one cannot walk on a footpath as it is under encroachment. —Jasleen Kaur, A homemaker

“City roads are not pedestrian-friendly. Even if someone wants to avoid use of a vehicle, one cannot walk on a footpath as it is under encroachment,” said Jasleen Kaur, a homemaker.

While walking between vehicles, pedestrians not only risk their own lives, but also hinder the flow of traffic resulting in huge snarls. Long queues of vehicles are often witnessed in the markets, including Hall Bazaar and others, near the Golden Temple, which are thronged by thousands of tourists, who prefer to walk.

Shopkeepers apart from using footpaths sometimes also use portions of the roads to display their goods. It further narrows the space for the flow of traffic. In the recent years, especially during the tenure of previous government, most of the footpaths were paved nicely with interlocking tiles. However, even after the government spending huge amounts, these are still not available to those for whom these were made available.

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