Encroached, broken and uneven footpaths of Delhi

Reality check

"A review meeting will be held after two weeks to chart out a time-bound action plan for joint action by the civic agencies and Delhi Police to remove hindrances from footpath and make them pedestrian-friendly," said a communique from the lt. governor house in November 2015. Most of Delhi's footpath's continue to be encroached, broken and uneven, making them extremely dangerous for pedestrian use. Ideally, footpaths should be smooth and even, with no crinkled or unsafe surfaces that can cause people to fall and injure themselves. Even, landscaped and clean footpaths make streets and main roads look beautiful and walker friendly. Though municipalities in Delhi seem to be making efforts in this direction, but they need to focus on standards, creating standard barriers for motorcycles, penalize encroacher's and illegal parking.
Number of places footpath's run over drains with open manholes. Spotting an electric pole with open wiring or razor fencing wire running across footpath, that can slit someones throat isn't rare. Badly maintained and encroached footpaths significantly contribute to Delhi's continuously hazardous air. “Delhi Police has informed that as and when any instance about illegal encroachment comes to notice, the concerned land owning agency is informed about illegal encroachment. Besides this, the Delhi Police provides assistance to the concerned civic agencies in removal of any kind of encroachment on public land and legal action is taken as per law in case any encroachment is noticed,” Said a reply by Shri Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary in response to a question raised by Shri. Ram Kumar Kashyap in parliament. Clearly there is a significantly visible gap between intentions and execution. Government must provide a unified platform to enable citizens to raise the complaint and the status must be provide to complainant without harassment or requests for face to face meetings.