MCH comm: Oct 24th 2006, Pavements in Mehidipatnam ( Hyderabad)

From
Kanthimathi Kannan

Date: Oct 24th 2006

The Municipal Commissioner
Hyderabad


Sub: Pavements in Mehdipatnam

Respected Sir
Let me on behalf of all the residents of the Mehdipatnam area thank you for providing us with a very beautiful Foot over Bridge. Unfortunately this is not much used and everyone crosses the road as per his or her wishes.
I had on February 5th, 2005 and Sept 27th 2005 given letters regarding the appalling conditions of the pavements in Mehdipatnam. There have been several drives to clear pavements in the past year to clear the pavements of encroachments but none of them have really worked. For example, in Dec 2005, when there was a Congress Session at Gachibowli stadium, all the pavements were cleared and the roads looked really broad and clean too.

What is the real issue of the pavements?
In some places it is wide but people urinate on it and also on the road there are a number of vans/ cars that are parked all the time and the pedestrians are put to a lot of trouble. (Exhibit 1, 2)
In some places as shown in the photographs (Exhibit 3), it is occupied by vendors
The bus stops are very crowded and hence people are forced to use the road as a pavement.
The pavements are also used as parking lots. (Exhibits 4, 5 and 6)
There are new constructions coming up in the area that do not have proper parking space. These new constructions in the past year include huge buildings that have the HDFC bank, ICICI bank, Railway reservation counter among others. What happens is that since there is not adequate space for parking inside these complexes, vehicles take up the road space to park. This in turn leads to a lot of confusion on the road.
The pavements also have dangerous electrical equipment.
MCH has built urinals but there are no pavements alongside it


Why do we need pavements?
For walking safely
More people will use the public transport system if pavements are made safe and walk able. Studies have shown that Hyderabad is among the few cities where usage of the public transport system is dropping each year. This results also in a rise in private vehicles that in turn leads to higher pollution levels.

Sir, could you kindly look into the matter and make the pavements of Mehdipatnam ‘walk able’?



Thanking You

Yours faithfully

Kanthimathi Kannan


Enclosures: Letters sent to MCH (dated Feb 5th 2005 and Sept 27th 2005); also photographs taken in Mehdipatnam area.