Bombay HC Takes Cognizance of Pathetic Situation of Footpaths and Pedestrians Right in Pune

DIRECTS PMC, URBAN DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT,
TOWN PLANNING DEPARTMENT, DISTRICT COLLECTOR,
MAHA METRO, AND PMRDA TO FILE THEIR AFFIDAVITS
CLARIFYING THEIR STAND.

The PIL 141 of 2923, pertaining to pedestrians’ rights, filed by senior social activist Qaneez Sukhrani from Pune was heard by the Bombay HighCourt bench comprising of The Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif S Doctor on 06.12.2023. The High Court has directed the Respondents to file their affidavits in 4 weeks, by 27.12.2023 and kept the PIL for next hearing on 17.01.2024.

Representing the Petitioner Adv. Satya Muley argued that Pedestrians’ rights are completely and wholly neglected by the Pune Municipal Corporation as there are badly constructed and / or broken  footpaths in some parts of Pune, total absence of footpaths in some parts, or in majority of locations either they are encroached upon by illegal vendors, hawkers, food stalls, beggars, homeless, squatters, excess debris, pipes, hanging overhead cables, MSEDCL fuse boxes & junction boxes, protruding chamber covers, manhole covers, Smart City Digital Information poles, benches and other obstructions / obstacles etc. The footpaths are also dug up in an unplanned manner and thereafter never levelled, or the same locations are repeatedly dug up. Maha-Metro Pune has grabbed entire footpath width and some portions of footpath length for constructing exit/entry staircase at several locations. There is an absence of basic facilities like at-grade pedestrian crossings, ramps for accessibility on footpaths for senior, challenged & disabled, pedestrian zebra crossings are not marked and painted and / or illuminated, safe access to subways and foot over bridges lacking. Where these are required, there is an absence of basic facilities like zebra crossing, illumination, and foot over bridges.” 

PEDESTRIANS DAY AMID PEDESTRIANS RIGHTS APATHY
PMC Celebrated the Pedestrians Day on 11th of December, and ironically the order of Bombay High Court taking Cognizance of the apathy of Pedestrians rights in Pune were also made available by Bombay High Court on 11.12.2023.

Many key regions of the PMC are facing complete lack of footpaths. Most of the places are either encroached or dug up.

LIFE IS DIFFICULT OF PEDESTRIANS IN PUNE
The footpaths in Pune Municipal Corporation jurisdiction are grossly encroached upon and grabbed by hawkers & vendors, cooked food stalls, beggars, homeless, squatters, excess debris from construction sites, pipes, hanging overhead cables, MSEDCL fuse boxes & junction boxes, protruding chamber covers and manhole covers, Smart City Digital Information poles, benches, and other obstructions / obstacles, etc. This makes the free and safe movement of pedestrians almost impossible and at most times
dangerous. It is a common sight in Pune that the footpaths are dug up in an unplanned manner and thereafter never levelled, or the same locations are repeatedly dug up. The Pedestrians are therefore forced to walk in a dangerous condition and on most occasions walk on the streets, roads, also due to absence of footpaths at several Locations, exposing themselves to moving vehicles.

PUNE METRO ADDING TO THE WOES OF THE PEDESTRIANS.
Metro Rail project is progressing in an unplanned manner to the extent that in several locations the entire footpath has been dug up and in several locations the entry/exit staircase connecting the Metro rail stations have consumed the entire footpath. Maha-Metro Pune has grabbed entire footpath width and some portions of footpath length for constructing exit/entry staircase at several locations.

MAJOR ENCROACHMENT ON FOOTPATHS
Locations such as Nagar Road, Aundh Road, Karve Road, Satara Road, Baner Road, Swargate, Pashan Road, Koregaon Park Roads, Fergusson College Road and Balewadi High Street, the footpaths are encroached upon by the authorised/unauthorized/ vendors & hawkers, illegal food vending stalls, hawkers, beggars and even vehicles are illegally parked on the footpath thereby rendering the entire or major part.

UNPLANNED DIGGING AND GARBAGE DUMPING
Entire footpaths are blocked due to unplanned digging for private or public civil work, these are never covered and restored back to original status and on many locations the footpaths are having obstructions such as debris, dumped garbage making it difficult and impossible for the pedestrians to use the footpaths, forcing them to either walk on the roads/streets amidst vehicles or use vehicles instead of walking.

LACK OF ADHERENCE TO INDIAN ROAD CONGRESS NORMS
PMC have based their planning and construction of footpaths as per the Indian Road Congress (IRC) Norms 103 of 2012. However, there is complete lack of implementation on part of PMC towards the guidelines as mentioned in the said Indian Road Congress norms of 2012, which view footpaths as a transport system that should be connected and continuous, just like roadways and railways, but this has been completely ignored. Quote of Petitioner. Ms. Qaneez e Fatemah Sukhrani .The need to file this PIL for Pedestrians to have Rights had become imperative, especially because PMC was progressing rapidly on developing new areas but the services around Pune city were abysmal, missing and / or unplanned. It is visibly quite obvious to all that everyone had rights on footpaths, except pedestrians. So after, a few applications under RTI Act 2005, numerous communications & media articles, gathering several
norms, policies & guidelines, taking 100s of GPS based photographs, I went ahead with filing the PIL as there was sufficient evidence available. Even after filing the Petition on 8th Aug 2023, there has been no reaction by PMC to take corrective action on clearing encroachments, squatters, vendors, hawkers, food stalls, beggars, debris, material, etc. Cables, MSEDCL fuse boxes, pipes, etc are still occupying and encroaching Pedestrian Rights. Manhole and chamber covers are still not in level with footpaths. Subways and FOBs are still full of garbage, liquor bottles. No attempt has been made to correct the issues on site and construct at-grade crossings for pedestrians, ramps for accessibility to footpaths for senior and challenged citizens. PMC still has not stopped digging trenches on footpaths and / or constructing footpaths according to IRC norms no.103 of 2012 (see photo of one such footpath). While PMC celebrated Pedestrian Day on 11th December 2023 on a select areas in Pune, pedestrians in the rest of Pune were still facing inconveniences and safety issues.

Satya Muley, Advocate – Bombay High Court & Supreme Court of India, on behalf of the petitioner stated, “It is the responsibility of the PMC and Town planning department under various statutes and under Article 243 (W), Schedule XII of the Constitution of India to develop infrastructure necessary providing and ensuring proper pedestrian facilities such as footpaths, subways, foot over bridges, zebra crossings to ensure free and safe passage, with proper illumination, slopes permitting use of wheelchairs and bicycles. It is the inaction on part of both the PMC and Town Planning Department that are affecting the rights of pedestrians who have a fundamental right to free and safe passage, free of obstruction of any kind. PMC also adopted Urban Street Design Guidelines (USDG) in July 2016.”

Muley further said, “However, even after 7 years, there has been no implementation of the same; in fact, the PMC is acting in violation of the Pedestrian Policy and USDG. The PMC has the constitutional responsibility of urban planning and execution of development plans to provide for the above-mentioned fundamental rights of pedestrians. Pune Metro work is progressing in a very haphazard manner encroaching upon footpaths and lacks planning for giving access to the Pedestrians in a safe manner. The citizens of Pune are suffering from lack of necessities such as proper footpaths and therefore the Petitioner has rightfully filed the PIL. These days the people of Pune are forced to come on streets to demand basic amenities such as footpaths, water, proper roads, sanitation etc or seek legal remedies from the High Court. This demonstrates a complete collapse of the municipal administration of PMC.”