Hyderabad: Experts pooh-pooh FoBs, bat for Metro
Why build them when they are shunned by people, they ask.
Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s proposal to construct 50 Foot overbridges (FoBs) in the city have not gone down well with experts who said that the project will only benefit contractors and the Rs 9.18 crore spend on them will go waste.
To drive the point home, experts said that FoBs near St. Ann’s in Secunderabad, Begumpet, Mehdipatnam, Ameerpet, Khairatabad and Dilsukhnagar have been razed down for taking up Metro constructions.
They claimed that FoBs across the world did not yield in desired results and failed to facilitate old persons, children and the handicapped since they are above 20 feet. The experts said that the new Metro stations in the city will be suitable for all pedestrians since they use elevators.
Prof K.M. Lakshman Rao, an expert in transportation and director of Centre of Excellence on Disaster Management, JNTUH College of Engineering, said that since FoBs are constructed above 20 feet, pedestrians do not like to climb the steps to cross the road. He added that people did not opt for underground subways also. He asked the corporation to use LED illumination cross walk strips for every 500 metres and use the pedestrian-activated crossing system, which can halt the traffic for 30 seconds.”
Instead of FoBs, Metro stations in the city can be used to cross the road at busy junctions, he further said.
Echoing a similar view, Padmanabha Reddy, secretary of Forum for Good Governance, said that it is a waste of money as conventional FoBs are not used by seniors, children and handicapped persons. The current Metro stations and the proposed 36 Metro stations will provide a permanent solution for pedestrians to cross the road.
Only contractors stand to gain from the project, he alleged. A senior GHMC official, on condition of anonymity, said the corporation has already finalised 11 locations and has decided to hand over the remaining locations to the HMDA.
He said that talks between the government and the Metro authorities are on to use Metro stations as FoBs.