Skywalks are misused, says survey

Besides the lack of safety for women using skywalks, most people felt that the skywalks are being misused, reveals a citywide survey of 1,000 people conducted by a group of nine students of St Xavier's College in January. Bhavya Dore reports.

Besides the lack of safety for women using skywalks, most people felt that the skywalks are being misused, reveals a citywide survey of 1,000 people conducted by a group of nine students of St Xavier's College in January.

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Around 68.4% of the respondents said the skywalks are being misused by hawkers, beggars and drug addicts, while 44.4% said they are not well-maintained.

The second-year students, who conducted the study as part of their coursework, surveyed respondents using skywalks at Bandra, Kurla, Santacruz, Vile Parle, Borivli, Andheri, Sion, Dahisar, Mira Road and Bhayander using a questionnaire.

Despite all the issues, 62% of the respondents welcomed the concept of the skywalks and said they are useful, with only 34.4% feeling that the government was not justified in investing public money to build them.

"The concept is quite welcome… but after constructing a structure, you can't shelve the responsibility of its maintenance," said Avkash Jadhav, the history department professor who guided the project.