RAIPUR: The future of skywalk project, the 1.5-kilometre lane for pedestrians in the city, seems to hang in balance as the new government is yet to take a decision at a time when many city residents are questioning its utility.While the project, conceived and implemented during Dr Raman Singh-led BJP regime, is nearing completion, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel hinted that the government would gather opinions from the masses about the utility of the project.Congress had earlier opposed the skywalk project at Shastri Chowk, which is supposed to connect important roads at prime locations that passes through the busy lanes of the state capital. Since its conception, the project attracted severe criticism as several activists and residents called it a sheer waste of public money because they preferred a flyover for regulating traffic instead of a massive ramp built for the pedestrians.At a press conference held at Rajiv Bhavan, chief minister Baghel said projects that are declined by people due to their inconvenience, but are on the verge of completion needs attention and detailed study. He asked open-ended question to media and said, “With so much money spent on developing the skywalk project, what could be done now? To take concrete decision, inputs will be taken from the public along with engineers and architectures and PWD officials”.Talking to TOI, PWD minister Tamradhwaj Sahu said, “Though the skywalk was constructed for the convenience of pedestrians, it drew flak since its inception. That is why we need time to address the issue and conclude its status of existence.” Raipur mayor Pramod Dubey alleged that the skywalk project was given to a construction company from Lucknow, which already had three pending projects in the state. The contractor had left Chhattisgarh and the project is being completed by a local company.Dubey said, “Last year, I strongly opposed the project and to avoid the financial loss for deconstructing it, I suggested the incomplete pillars be stopped for further construction and they could be used for installing advertisement boards.”The estimated budget of skywalk project is worth of around Rs 50 crore . While highlighting the disadvantage of the project, PWD executive engineers said that the landing of the six lanes will obstruct roads and restrict the scope of road widening in the future.Experts claim that out of the six lanes, two will land at the road opposite to the multilevel parking on GE Road and as per executive engineers, it would block the entrance of the commercial establishments. One lane will land bang opposite the Town Hall, which will block the heritage view of the vintage building. Another lane will land at Shastri Chowk and would lead to congestion of the establishments located near the area. The deserted lanes constructed only for pedestrians will lead to illegal parking and hawking on the skywalk and the six lanes will require extensive police patrolling to check anti-social elements round the clock.The experts suggests that instead of the skywalk, the administration should have opted for constructing a flyover to accommodate the heavy traffic. Traffic congestion would have lessened if a flyover was constructed from Shastri Chowk to Amapara Chowk. According to engineers, the flyover would have led to diversion of traffic from the main city and divided the flow of traffic equally in and around Raipur.Criticising the project and terming it as sheer waste of public money, Janata Congress MLA Dr Renu Jogi said, “I am neither in favour of the skywalk nor flyover. To address traffic congestion, some other options could have been thought such as a separate platform similar to Fafadih could have been constructed. In the lines of Uslapur railway station, Sarona station could have been upgraded, which could have distributed the flow of traffic in the city. If these options failed to address the traffic congestion, only then the government should have given the nod for the high budget skywalk project.”

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