COIMBATORE: The pedestrian foot overbridge located on the Mettupalayam Road near Avinasilingam University has been abandoned by the University students and the public due to a lack of cleanliness and other facilities such as escalators, lifts and lights. Commuters also alleged that the overbridge is too steep.
The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) constructed the overbridge in 2017 at a cost of Rs 75 lakh after a request from the public and students of the university. It has now become inaccessible due to the lack of regular maintenance and other facilities. The people have requested the civic body officials to provide additional facilities for the foot overbridge.
The Avinasilingam University junction is one of the busiest junctions in the city as it connects motorists from three directions including people from Central Coimbatore toward Mettupalayam Road, travellers from Mettupalayam towards Coimbatore and from Bharathi Park Road towards Mettupalayam Road.
Sources said a few years ago Avinashilingam University had requested the CCMC to provide an overbridge at the junction so that students and the public can cross the road with ease. Though the Overbridge is conveniently located and offers a direct route to the bus stop, people do not use it.
Vandhana, a student from Avinashilingam University, told TNIE, “The overbridge has more than hundreds of steps, which makes it difficult for people to climb it. Especially the elderly may not be able to use it. A major issue is the lack of regular maintenance of the overbridge. Due to the unclean conditions, pedestrians tend to avoid the overbridge, choosing alternative routes instead.” Sankari, a scholar at the same university, said that people find easy ways to directly cross the road and if the corporation provides other facilities, such as lifts, escalators and lights people may use them on a regular basis. She also added that by creating awareness about accidents, people may realize the purpose of the bridge.
CCMC Commissioner M Prathap said, “The bridge was set up mainly for the students and they all can easily use the stairs. We will ensure the cleanliness of the foot overbridge and will also remove the green fibre panels that partially block the view of the bridge. We shall conduct a cost-to-benefit analysis and take a final decision on installing lifts and escalator facilities on the bridge. Also, we will study whether the bridge is useful to some other people and shift it to a different area similar to Kuniyamuthur bridge, which was shifted to another area a few months ago.