Citizen Connect: ‘Useless’ foot overbridge forces pedestrians to take roads again

People who live around the bridge and those who travel in the area said that the public is dumping garbage here and the authorities have not assigned anyone to clean it regularly.

S Geetha, a regular commuter, said, “I am a government employee. I travel from Parry’s Corner to Shastri Bhavan by bus every day. Though the foot overbridge is near the bus stop, I don’t use it due to the poor maintenance.”

Geetha added that she is taking a risk every day while crossing the road amid speeding vehicles. Other office goers complained that lack of illumination also makes the bridge unsafe after nightfall.

“Vulnerability to anti-social activities, especially at night,is high and even men are afraid to use the facility,” saidK Prakash Babu, a privatefirm employee on Haddows Road. “I have witnessed men consuming alcohol on the bridge at night,” he added.

Adding to the woes, several cables are also scattered on the bridge. Residents said that there were instances where people have fallen on the bridge after getting tangled in the wires.

When DT Next contacted the Greater Chennai Corporation, which maintains foot overbridges across the city, an official pointed out that no one has ever raised complaints about the poor maintenance of the particular bridge.

“As responsible citizens, they need to use the bridge and bring the issues to the authorities so that action will be taken immediately,” a senior Corporation official said.

According to him, a team from the maintenance department inspects all the foot overbridges across the city every month to see whether they are properly maintained. “If they find any issues, the matter will be solved immediately,” he said.

The official said that authorities cannot force people touse foot overbridge fortheir safety. “It is public responsibility,” he said.