Chennai Corporation allocates over Rs 1 crore for footpath redesign

CHENNAI: Public spaces in the city such as footpaths, parks, centre medians and traffic islands are all set for makeover. The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has decided to lay new footpaths for 200 km at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore to make the city more pedestrian-friendly.

To implement that, it has proposed to spend more than Rs 1 crore, in the first phase, to design the footpaths, and has now floated tenders to find a private consultant to design them.

The instructions are clear: design must focus on reducing pedestrian-vehicular conflict, and improving the safety and comfort of pedestrians. “To create a truly walkable city, we need to expand these efforts to ensure safe, accessible, and continuous pedestrian infrastructure citywide,” said a senior GCC official. “The objective is to develop the designs for high-quality, accessible, continuous non-motorist transit (NMT) infrastructure in Chennai and oversee their implementation.”

In the tender documents, the local body said that the consultant should develop all the designs in compliance with the latest Indian Road Congress (IRC) standards, Complete Streets Guidelines, Harmonised Guidelines and GCC inclusive design manual. “This project has been initiated to ensure sufficient pedestrian footpath space and provide designated waiting areas with seating where necessary. And also to integrate transit stations (MTC bus stops, Metro stations, etc) by enhancing walkability and allocate footpath spaces considering street character, institutional presence, and public activity zones,” said the GCC.

Meanwhile, as a part of the beautification works along the Marina Beach such as the centre medians, roadside parks, fountains and plantations, the local body is looking for a private player to undertake the maintenance work for one year. As per official data, the GCC is responsible for the upkeep of centre medians to an extent of 40,659 metres, 55 fountains, 45 roadside parks, 48 traffic islands and trees along the beach roads.

The successful bidder should undertake daily watering of the landscape, including trees, shrubs, hedges, lawns, and other planted areas in centre medians, traffic islands, miyawaki plantations, and roadside parks. “Removal of unwanted plants or weeds, waste, debris, fallen leaves and clearing unwanted materials such as cables, wires, or other obstructions that pose safety hazards are the works of the bidder,” said GCC. “The bidder must also carry out pruning, trimming, shaping of plants, shrubs, and hedges, and also grass cutting, and must ensure the installation of a water storage tank for tree plantation at beach roads.”

If the bidder is found to have failed to comply with the conditions, a penalty ranging between Rs 25,000 and Rs 5 lakh per day will be imposed, said the tender documents.

“The tender has been floated. By the end of July, we’ll choose a successful bidder and within 30 days, the works will commence,” said a senior GCC official.