Dwarka: The footpaths are directly linked to the physical well-being of people and making the city conducive for people who love to move on foot. A lot of emphasis is given to footpaths while planning the cities. However, in a planned sub-city like Dwarka, there are footpaths that are facing utter neglect and bad upkeep.
The footpath from sector 6, 10 and 1 is in a complete mess. The slabs are missing on the footpath. There are caves as well. This has happened near a residential society Elephanta Heights in Sector 10, behind Sector 6 market, and Sector 1 opposite Maharaja Agarsen Hospital. The footpath has broken and tiles have been removed. The pathway is uneven and there are gaping holes in between.
Calling it a footpath itself is not correct since no one can actually walk on it. This is the condition of footpaths at most places. Now the situation is becoming alarming. The mentioned section of the footpath has caved in as well.
With few quick showers, we can see chaos everywhere, literally. Such is the of affairs of our civic facilities that it is very risky and at times impossible to walk on the footpaths and side of the roads after rains.
Seema Arora, a resident from Sector 1 said, “This is indeed shocking! While there are so many agencies working on different aspects of infrastructure maintenance, nobody has bothered to repair this. It is in fact on the road.”
The horrible part is that the streetlights were also missing on these stretches where slabs were missing on the footpaths. The situation is such that the pedestrians now fear to take a stroll on these stretches.
Harish Kumar, a resident from Sector 10 said, “That is indeed true. The apathy is glaring. The Delhi Development Authority, Municipal Corporation of Delhi or the Horticulture Department have just turned a blind eye to this critical and important part of the infrastructure.”
BK Singh, a resident from Sector 6 said, “A senior citizen would definitely need support to walk on this footpath that is uneven with broken tiles. The substandard work done by the civic authorities is clearly visible. One has to guard at each and every step. Now the authorities need to do a proper job and ensure that this does not break or give way again.”
Whatever be the reason for such caving in or tiles coming out of footpaths in most of the sectors of Dwarka, but this must be taken seriously by the civic bodies to ensure that such things should not happen as pedestrians use footpaths for safe access to a different part of the city on foot and such fall could prove dangerous for their lives.
Though after such collapse of portions of a footpath, the concerned civic body repairs them. Cityspidey tried to connect with DDA chief engineer but he was unavailable for comment.
