Delhi: PWD To Construct Four New Foot Overbridges At Anand Vihar, Usmanpur, Welcome Metro To Ease Pedestrian Movement

The Public Works Department (PWD) is planning to construct four new foot overbridges (FOBs) in areas with heavy pedestrian movement, officials said on Friday. According to officials, inspections have been carried out at Anand Vihar ISBT exit gate, Nand Nagri depot, near Khajuri flyover roundabout on the Wazirabad road, near Metro Pillar No 146 in Usmanpur village on the Mehrauli-Badarpur road and at Welcome metro station on GT Road in east Delhi.

"While four other locations have been approved by the FOB committee and tenders have been floated, inspections at four new sites have been done; after the feasibility reports are prepared, approvals will be taken," an official said.

PWD currently maintains around 115 FOBs across the city. Last month, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta laid the foundation stone of an FOB construction project at the Rajputana Rifles Centre on Ring Road. The locations where tenders have already been floated for construction work include Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Marg, Hanuman Mandir near Parmanand Hospital, TPM Church red light and near Kendriya Vidyalaya at Jawaharlal Nehru University campus. These busy roads do not have any FOBs currently, officials said. However, there are concerns over the utilisation of several existing FOBs.

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"There are several FOBs across the city where pedestrians do not use the facility to cross roads. In a study, we had observed that these are locations where the FOBs are located far from bus queue shelters or metro stations, or the structures lack lifts and are not disabled-friendly," officials added.

A study conducted by the Delhi government's planning department in 2018 highlighted the reasons why pedestrians avoid using the FOBs. According to the study, there were a total of 74 FOBs and 37 subways.

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Of the total FOBs, 77 per cent lacked lifts, only 23 per cent had escalators, and around 70 per cent did not have a security guard. The Delhi government has plans to conduct repair and maintenance work at these FOBs to increase pedestrian safety in the city.

Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by The Daily Jagran staff and has been published through syndicated feed by PTI.