Pedestrian Day: Pune Municipal Corporation launches ‘Footpath Repair Campaign’

Pawaskar also informed that a badly damaged footpath near Shri Lalji Mhatre Hospital under the Nanapeth ward has been constructed afresh as per the Urban Street Design Guidelines (USDG) and opened for public use.

According to a Road Asset Management System (RAMS) study of Pune city, about 42 km of footpaths were identified as needing repairs, the PMC chief engineer said, adding that the Road Department of the civic body has undertaken the phased repair of these footpaths.

Due to various utility works being carried out by the Pune Police and other departments, extensive digging has also been done in several parts of the city, especially in the old city areas, affecting roads and footpaths and causing inconvenience to citizens.

“The main objective of the (Footpath Repair) Campaign is to repair damaged, broken and encroached footpaths and provide citizens with safe, clean and obstruction-free walking spaces. Under this initiative, repair work on faulty footpaths in various parts of the city will be undertaken,” said Pawaskar.

Meanwhile, Pune-based Parisar and a host of other organisations have started mobilising citizens to ensure that the government takes action to fix footpaths.

When contacted, Ranjit Gadgil, Programme Director, Parisar, told The Indian Express that PMC has largely turned the Pedestrian Day into a one-day event without making any substantive improvements for pedestrians.