Pune Activist Moves To Bombay High Court Seeking Enforcement of Pedestrians Right

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 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. 

PUNE’S NEGLECTED INFRASTRUCTURE – UNMASKING THE PMC’S NEGLECT! 

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 the 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. The Petitioner challenges the inaction of the Respondents on the grounds set forth in the PIL Memo. 

CITIZEN ACTIVIST TAKES A STAND 

Citizen Activist Qaneez Sukhrani has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) to seek enforcement of Pedestrians rights and also implementation of the guidelines of Indian Road Congress in context to footpaths, although adopted by the Pune Municipal Corporation, but are not yet implemented. Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) through its commissioner, Urban Development Department, Town Planning and Valuation Department, District Collector, Pune, And the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (in short Maha Metro) are the respondents in the PIL. 

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. 

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. Annexed to the PIL are some of the reliable photographs which depict the current situation of the Footpaths in Pune City Municipal region. Adv Megha Maske who has done the research on the subject stated that the Pune Municipal Corporation’s neglect for footpaths is a dereliction of duty that has put pedestrians in danger. 

The 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. 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. 

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. 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. 

Qaneez e Fatemah Sukhrani  said, “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.” 

Advocate Satya Muley said on the PIL, “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. 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. The citizens of Pune are suffering from lack of basic necessity 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. 

Advocate Satya Muley was assisted by Adv. Megha Maske in the PIL.