NEW DELHI: For years, pedestrians in parts of the city have had to negotiate poorly lit, crumbling subways and foot overbridges (FOBs) that were meant to keep them safe from busy traffic. Now, after a series of inspections and past tragedies, the Public Works Department (PWD) says it is considering the implementation of a dedicated monitoring and maintenance plan.
PWD Minister Parvesh Verma, who inspected several such facilities last month along with senior officials, flagged a host of shortcomings, from missing protective grilles to broken electrical fixtures and poorly maintained access points. To address these, the department has decided to rope in a private company to undertake repair and upkeep work at six key subways in the first phase. These include structures at Shastri Nagar, Saraswati Vihar, Rohini Court, Inderlok, Wazirpur and Britannia Chowk. The initial contract is expected to last at least a year, with an emphasis on restoring safety standards and ensuring regular maintenance.
According to officials, the plan will involve ensuring proper lighting, deploying security guards and installing CCTV cameras wherever required. “More subways and bridges that need attention are also being surveyed and phase-wise plans are being prepared for those,” an official said, adding that the idea is to make pedestrian infrastructure both safer and more usable. The move comes against the backdrop of a 2023 accident in which a 16-year-old boy died after falling from a foot over a bridge where protective barriers were missing.