FOB located on the busy Jalna road
Aurangabad, May 5:
The foot overbridge (FOB) in front of the district and sessions court has become a mere showpiece. The bridge built on the busy Jalna road has been opened but remains largely unused.
Pedestrians still prefer to walk across the road than climb up the stairs of the FOBs to cross the busy road. As a result, this unused bridge is fast becoming a place for people to take rest or simply to take selfies while vehicles zip past below.
Pedestrians attribute various reasons that prevent them from using the FOB starting from difficulty to climb the steps, inconvenience and shortage of time. The overbridge is constructed at a height of 20ft above the road and has up to 48 steps. Authorities constructed the FOB near the court recently since pedestrians crossing the road here face the risk of getting hit by speeding vehicles coming down from both the directions. But people still continue to cross the busy road by foot instead of using the bridge.
“It takes time to climb the FOB. Besides, we get tired. We are careful while crossing the road though it is risky,” said ITI student Asif Shaikh who was found crossing the road below the FOB, along with his friend. Vendors in the area, opine that people will definitely use the FOB if authorities put up a barrier in the median to prevent pedestrians from crossing the road.
However, lawyers from the district court sometimes climb the bridge. Me and other lawyers use the bridge regularly to cross the road. It is very useful on this busy road. It will be good if they set up an escalator so that we need to climb the steps,” said Nagesh Jondhale, a lawyer.