Meetings
Inaugural Meeting: April 12, 2008
1. Details of the Inaugural Meeting:
Introduction : The Inaugural Meeting of the Right to Walk Foundation, held on April 12, 2008 at Urdu Hall, Himayathnagar was well attended. There were about 35 people present; the 20-somethings, the 40-somethings and the senior citizens were all well represented. Another notable fact was that many of those who attended the meeting were not civil society activists or members of other NGOs; they were professionals working with different corporate houses interested in the welfare of the City. The same goes to show that the problem related to walking on public streets is a concern that transcends age and the solution for this problem can be achieved only with the active participation of the masses and the working class and not just by the individual efforts of various NGOs.
Presentation by Ms. Kanthimathi Kannan : The meeting began with a half-hour presentation by Ms. Kanthimathi Kannan. She started by explaining the vision of the foundation i.e. to ensure implementation of the common man’s Right to Walk. She touched upon how footpaths benefit the elderly, motorist’s especially bus drivers, the physically challenged and the common man and how having footpaths, which are the first and the last step in any good public transport system, ensures a reduction in road-kills, facilitates free flow of traffic, helps reduce pollution and helps bring down expenditure in short distance commutes.
The most important part of the Presentation dealt with the problems faced in ensuring a Right to Walk i.e. Missing Footpaths and Encroachments on Footpaths. To elucidate, Mrs. Kannan used photographs and videos taken in various parts of the City where footpaths were either missing or were encroached upon by retail outlets of big business houses such as Reliance, HDFC Bank, Vodafone, ICICI bank etc., shop-keepers, GHMC’s electric equipment and urinals, gardens, hawkers and people who use footpaths as public urinals.
What are the steps that the GHMC takes in order to ensure that encroachments, littering and urinating on footpaths does not happen? (For example, does the GHMC take parking issues into account while issuing trade licenses?)
Next, Mrs. Kannan familiarized the audience with the provisions under the Hyderabad Municipal Corporations Act, 1955 that deal with footpaths. Section 2(46) of the Act defines public streets as including pavements. Section 373 vests such public streets in the GHMC and Section 374 provides for the duty of the Commissioner to take measures for the safety of pedestrians.
However, Mrs. Kannan clarified that this legal framework is applicable on to roads that belong to the GHMC. The legal framework for footpaths on highways within the city is as yet unclear with the GHMC and the Roads and Buildings Department shifting the responsibility for the same to one another.
Lastly, Mrs. Kannan discussed the progress to date and enumerated the various RTI applications and petitions that she has submitted to the GHMC and the Police as part of the Right to Walk campaign. These applications and petitions deal with queries regarding the responsibility for creation and maintenance of footpaths, encroachments by corporate houses and the GHMC, pedestrian crossings and footpaths broken down to create parking facilities.
The Way Forward – An Open Discussion: The purpose of the inaugural meeting of the Foundation was to elicit views from the attendees as to the measures necessary to take the campaign forward. The presentation by Mrs. Kannan was therefore followed by a forty-five minute discussion on the way forward for the campaign, where many speakers came forward with their ideas and suggestions.
The following salient points were culled out from the discussion:
- Most attendees were of the view that the campaign needed to take the form of a mass movement involving social and cultural clubs such as the Rotary Club, Lions Club etc., formation of area-wise task-forces/squads along with the help of residential associations and welfare associations. Creating awareness by displaying photographs of areas without footpaths and resulting pedestrian discomfort etc.
- On a related note, there were also suggestions to create awareness amongst and involve the less fortunate classes of society who need footpaths the most.
- It was felt that such a movement would enable the Foundation to put pressure on the government, the GHMC and other concerned authorities to fulfil the demand for encroachment-free footpaths. Some speakers were also of the opinion that the formation of such area-wise committees would ensure that residents in those areas would stop encroaching footpaths to form gardens and to create parking space. A suggestion made to ensure cooperation from neighbours was to get letters from the GHMC clarifying the position regarding footpath-encroachment in residential areas and to use such letters to get footpaths cleared.
- Many were of the view that as parallel measures awareness about traffic rules, lane discipline etc. needs to be focussed upon.
- It was felt that the caretakers of the law such as the GHMC and the Police must be asked to get their houses in order first i.e they must provide footpaths in areas around their offices.
- In areas such as Gachibowli and Hi-Tech City that are occupied by big business houses, the solution proposed was to involve the companies there to either pressurize the GHMC into building footpaths or owning the footpaths themselves, since companies are interested in the welfare of their employees. If success is achieved in such areas, the same can be used as an example in other areas.
- A young and enthusiastic urban planning student suggested a focus on an integrated transport plan to take the campaign forward. He was of the view that following-up on the implementation of the Bus Rapid Transport System was the way forward since the BRTS ensures footpath creation.
