Hyderabad: The roads of Hyderabad are becoming increasingly unfriendly towards pedestrians.
With the 72-km long Metro Rail line nearing completion, it has been decided that medians between three and 3.5 feet in height will be built along the line, with plantations within them, in order to discourage pedestrians from crossing the road wherever they want.
While the intentions behind this move may be good, it has only encouraged people to climb over the medians, which can prove dangerous in busy commercial areas.
The medians have openings at designated locations, and people are forced to either jump over them or walk 500 metres to the nearest opening. “There are no footpaths on the Jubilee-Madhapur stretch, so where should one walk in order to get to the next opening? We are forced to walk in the middle of traffic in order to cross over to another lane,” says Shashank Shekhar, who frequently travels along this stretch.
At the Begumpet-Paradise stretch, the openings for pedestrians to cross over are located at the main junction which is used by vehicles as well. At Minister Road Junction, pedestrians have to wait for an opportunity to cross to the other side of the road.
“While we welcome the Metro rail, the development of medians is eating into the road. Earlier, the roads felt wider, but now the aesthetics have deteriorated. Why are they blocking pedestrians from crossing for such long distances?” asks Major Shiva Kiran, the vice president of the United Federation of Residents’ Welfare Associations.
Metro officials claim that this move will help deter accidents, involving jaywalkers. “This decision has been taken due to the number of accidents where speeding vehicles have crashed into the medians. This will reduce the damage,” says an official. Traffic and transport officials have distanced themselves from the decision, saying that it is one of the technical aspects of the Metro Rail.
