Footpath are meant for smooth movement of pedestrians, but they are, especially the disabled and old citizens, are facing difficulty on roads, as the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has constructed these tracks much above from the road level. The footpaths having no slopes or tapers to facilitate the disabled can be seen at different places, as the CDA have yet not specified rules for constructing the walkways. The CDA’s ill planning does stop there, as most of the footpaths also have open manholes, creating problems for the pedestrians. Thus, the disabled using on wheelchairs and aged people are tormented on a regular basis.
The civic body has tapered the footpaths only at the starting and ending points, while there are no steps at the middle portion. These observations were made during a survey conducted by Pakistan Today of Karachi Company, Aabpara, Melody Market, Blue Area and many other areas.
Most of the footpaths have a height of 4 inch to 20 inches, while majority of them are in a very dilapidated condition, which needs immediate maintenance. The open manholes are another constant headache as many people have been injured after falling in them. Due to the dilapidated condition, most of the pedestrians avoid to go on these footpaths and use roads, which create hindrance in traffic flow besides resulting into accidents. In different areas of the city, vendors have encroached upon footpaths and established stalls, showing complete negligence on the part of CDA Enforcement Directorate.
A pedestrian Zafar at Karachi Company said his disabled brother Anwer Ali faced great difficulty when he wanted to go market because footpaths in the areas had no slope to facilitate him using his wheelchair. “The CDA needs to take practical steps to address the serious issue, created by its own poor planning,” he added. Ashfaq, a resident of Aabpara, said the CDA must cover the manholes at footpaths. “The existing manholes are creating problems for the pedestrians because most of them remain open, while their designing is also a problem,” he added.
An official of CDA Road Directorate he said there was no hard and fast rule for the construction of footpaths along the road. “The height of the footpath depends upon the height of Kerb stones, as 4 to 18 inch kerb stones are available in the market. The height of footpath also depends on the profile of the road and the location of the road,” he added.
