Secunderabad Foot-over-Bridge at St Ann’s High School taking shape

Six years after dismantling the Foot-over-Bridge (FoB) to pave way for the construction of metro rail pillars at St Ann’s High School in Secunderabad, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has expedited the works of re-installing the FoB at the same place.

With this, the woes of the parents and their children in crossing the ever-busy stretch would come to end. Earlier, a six-member police team from Gopalapuram traffic police station, headed by an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police (ASI), used to assist the students daily to cross the road by manually stopping the traffic.

There were instances where some persons used to drive on despite the attempts of the traffic police to stop them on two sides of the road to help students cross the road. But when schools were closed due to Covid-19 last year, the municipal officials resumed the works pertaining to re-installing the FoB.

Utilising ample space available on two sides of the road after completing widening works, the officials started



executing the works by assembling metal pre-cast structures. With the help of heavy cranes, the metal structure would be assembled and later escalators would be installed.

Students and those accompanying them, mostly women, and senior citizens used to face problems in climbing the steps of the FoB, which was constructed earlier at the school. Keeping in view the problems faced by them, the officials have now decided to provide escalators.

Gopalpuram Traffic Inspector A Srinivas said they had proposed FoBs at St Ann’s High School, Mettuguda, Rail Nilayam and two other places in Secunderabad to address the pedestrians problem. The FoB at St Ann’s High School will be of great help for students in crossing the road safely, he said.

After the death of an LKG student in August 2005 when a speeding van hit her in front of the school, the corporation had constructed an FoB in front of the school for the convenience of the students. However, it was dismantled in 2015 to lay pillars for the metro rail.