Activities
Ms. Kanthimathi Kannan started the The Right to Walk campaign in 2005 with her own neighbourhood in Hyderabad, Mehdipatnam. She decided to concentrate on the stretch leading from her house in Karol Bagh Colony to Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital in Masab Tank. To achieve the desired result, she has been submitting numerous petitions, and filing applications under the Right to Information Act (RTI Act) to urge the GHMC to make the footpaths along this stretch pedestrian-friendly.
At the same time to create awareness about the campaign, she has also been meeting functionaries from governmental organisations who have shown an interest in the campaign and like-minded people from various non-governmental organisations in the city who are doing their bit in improving the city of Hyderabad.
I. Petitioning – hardly a petty matter!
1. Footpaths broken to accommodate vehicles
The width of the footpath on the main road leading from Mehdipatnam to Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital was reduced and commercial vehicles were parked in the area so created. Further, a structure resembling a dargah was built on it. In October 2007, Mrs. Kannan started sending out e-mails and submitted petitions to the concerned authorities i.e. the Police and the GHMC in order to restore the footpath to its original width and prohibit the parking of vehicles in the area. In March 2008, her efforts met with some success with the restoration of the footpath. However, the structure on it remains untouched.
Footpaths broken to provide parking
2.Footpaths doubling up as public urinals
In December 2007, Mrs. Kannan sent numerous e-mails to the concerned authorities, with photographs attached, to complain about the footpath alongside Rhythu Bazaar (a vegetable market) in Mehdipatnam that is completely urinated upon; the stench making the footpath unusable. So far, the concerned authorities have failed to respond in this regard.
Footpaths broken to provide parking
II. RTI Applications – If only the authorities saw it as a right!
1.Who is responsible for providing footpaths?
In an RTI Application dated December 10, 2007, Mrs. Kannan requested the GHMC to provide her with the road plan dealing with the pavement widths for the road from Karol Bagh Colony to Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital via Nanalnagar Crossroads. In March 2008, she got a reply regarding the footpath widths from Karol Bagh Colony to Nanal Nagar. In their reply, the GHMC also stated that the responsibility to maintain footpaths on the said road i.e. the highway leading from Nanalnagar Crossroads to Sarojini Devi Hospital was that of the Roads and Buildings Department.
In a similar RTI Application dated February 8, 2008, Mrs. Kannan requested the Roads and Buildings Department for the same details as she asked of the GHMC. In their reply, they stated unequivocally that they were in no way concerned with either the creation or maintenance of any footpath on any road whatsoever and that the GHMC was responsible for the same.
What is clear from the two responses is that while, the GHMC accepted responsibility for the creation and maintenance of footpaths for roads that belong to it, the responsibility for footpaths on roads belonging to the Roads and Buildings Department is still a grey area.
In light of the conflicting replies that were received from the GHMC and the Roads and Buildings Department, on March 18, 2008, Mrs. Kannan telephonically contacted Mr. Sudharsan, the Superintending Engineer (II) of the GHMC. He merely repeated the written response provided by the GHMC and yet again stated that it was the Roads and Buildings Department that was concerned with the creation and maintenance of footpaths on highways such as the one leading from Nanalnagar Crossroads to Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital.
On March 24, 2008, she approached the State Information Commissioner, the Appellate Body constituted under the RTI Act, with a plea to resolve the ambiguity created by the conflicting replies from the GHMC and the Roads and Buildings Department. She is yet to receive a response in this regard.
2. Pedestrian Rights
On February 1, 2008, Mrs. Kannan filed an RTI Application seeking information from the GHMC regarding the shortest route available to walk safely on encroachment-free and stench-free footpaths and using pedestrian crossings wherever necessary to reach Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital from
Karol Bagh Colony. The reply from the GHMC stated that the said information did not come under the purview of the Right to Information Act.
Where do I Walk
3. Battling Corporate Encrochments
On February 1, 2008, Mrs. Kannan filed an RTI Application regarding permissions given by the GHMC to various corporate business retail outlets such as:
1. Reliance Fresh on the road from Masab Tank (main road) to SD hospital,
2. Vodaphone at the Mehdipatnam (next to SBI, Rhythu Bazaar),
3. The retail outlet called MORE (earlier called Trinetra) ( Mehdipatnam Chaurastha),
4. The ICICI Bank ( Mehdipatnam Chaurastha).
More specifically, the Application sought details regarding parking facilities provided by the aforementioned outlets to their customers. Failing a response, she approached the Appellate Body in the GHMC on March 17, 2008. The Addl. Commissioner (Administration) of the GHMC via a letter dated April 8, 2008 stated that the Appellate Authority for this issue in the GHMC was the Zonal Commissioner (Central). In a telephonic conversation on April 11, 2008, the latter directed her to the Chief City Planner in the GHMC. The Chief City Planner agreed to answer her query immediately. However, since that has not happened, she has now approached the GHMC Commissioner with a letter requesting him to goad the aforementioned functionaries into complying with the RTI Act.
4. Pedestrian Safety
On February 6, 2008, Mrs. Kannan filed an RTI Application with the Police Department seeking information regarding the position of each of the pedestrian crossings on the road from my residence in Karol Bagh Colony to Masab Tank (slightly beyond the Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital) on the main road. In a response dated April 2, 2008, the Police Department listed out the zebra/ pedestrian crossings on the road from Karol Bagh Colony to Masab Tank. However, the same is rendered meaningless in light of the fact that all such crossings are unmanned and lack traffic signals; making it quite impossible for pedestrians to actually cross at these crossings. She intends to revert to the Police Department with a query regarding the existence of traffic policemen and signals at each of these crossings.
III. Enthusiastic functionaries in the government
In the course of the last one year, Ms. Kanthimathi Kannan has had the opportunity to meet many government officers and some worthy of mention for the enthusiasm they have shown in the
Right to Walk campaign and the initiative taken by them to help the cause of the campaign. For instance, Mr. Kaumudi, Addl Commissioner of Police (Traffic), whose prompt response to e-mails, petitions, phone-calls has helped the campaign immensely from its very inception; Mr. Rajulu,
Deputy Chief Engineer, Roads and Buildings Dept., who expressed keen support for the campaign while promptly responding to the RTI filed and Mr. Kishore, Deputy Manager of the Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), who made it possible for Mrs. Kannan to meet several other functionaries in the APSRTC amongst them Mr. Krishna Prasad, Executive Director, APSRTC, the person in-charge for the implementation of the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) in Hyderabad.
Mrs. Kannan has also had the good fortune of interacting with Mr. NVS Reddy, the Managing Director of the Metro Rail Transport System (MRTS) and former bureaucrats Mr. BPR Vithal and
Mr. Narender Luther.
IV. Other do-gooders
Ms. Kanthimathi Kannan is a member of the Forum for a Better Hyderabad , an NGO involved in the betterment of the City. She is also in constant touch with other NGOs that operate to alleviate different problems that plague the City such as the Confederation of Voluntary Associations (COVA) , the Forum for Sustainable Development, Apna Watan and Concerned Citizens.
