Hyderabad: Each year, during the immersion of Ganesh and Goddess Durga idols, the pavements and other facilities on Tank Bund are either removed to facilitate the immersion of idols or end up getting damaged. Either way, it has been an annual exercise to replace the pavement with a new one.
To address the issue, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is now planning to have a flexible pedestrian walkway, which will avoid damage or frequent repairs, specially during festive occasion.
In addition to pavements, emphasis was being laid on illumination, protective fencing, public art and landscape development. These initiatives, officials said, would help in improving the ambience on the bund and around the water body as visitors in large numbers throng here every day.
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Once damaged or removed during the festivities, the civic body had to incur expenditure in removing them and fixing new pavement and at the same time, the broken parts apart from giving an ugly look ended up causing inconvenience for pedestrians on the Tank Bund.
For this, the municipal corporation is roping in private agencies to develop pedestrian walkway and other facilities on the route and for preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR). The idea is to have aesthetic and flexible pedestrian walkway on the lake side of Tank Bund covering 2.5 km from Ambedkar Statue to Hotel Marriott.
Focus is on developing a walkway, which minimises damage to the pavements during Ganesh and Durga idols immersion. During the annual festivities, invariably the entire pavement on the route gets damaged due to installation of heavy duty cranes and other facilities, a senior official from GHMC said.
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This apart, plans were being made to have a fencing with cast iron or concrete baluster. This would be aptly supported with aesthetically designed concrete patterning, public art and landscape development. Apart from visual element, focus would be on having sufficient illumination to avoid any untoward incident and keep mischief mongers at bay, he said.
Further, proposals were being made for provision of ducts for laying cables, besides road signages, street furniture and road markings at pedestrian crossings. Comfortable access to differently-abled people was also being planned to avoid any inconvenience.
The agency which submits best pedestrian walkway design equipped with multiple facilities and quotes the least price for executing the project would be considered for the contract. All the works would have to be completed in three months, he added.
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