Footpaths for bikers, hawkers just not for walkers

While the traffic police and BBMP are insisting on pedestrian-friendly pavements and encouraging people to walk on footpaths, the scenario is far from encouraging, as most footpaths in the city are encroached upon by vendors or used for parking vehicles. As if that was not enough, the footpaths are often used as parallel roads by bikers. The constant encroachment clearance drives by both the traffic police and BBMP have been ineffective, as the vendors return to business the next day.

While Bengaluru’s roads are heavy with traffic, holding up commuters on way to work or elsewhere, its pavements don’t offer much comfort to pedestrians either. Although the TenderSure Roads in much of the Central Business District have been a godsend for pedestrians with their broad and (as yet) well maintained footpaths, in many other parts of the city, those on foot continue to struggle with narrow, uneven or broken pavements.  They also have to contend with pavements encroached on by parked vehicles or vendors , which forces them to walk on the road itself in the way of traffic.

Says Mr Komal Prasad of Indirangar , who is an automobile engineer working in Hoskote, “For the past six months the pavement has been lying damaged on the K R Puram cable-stayed bridge and although I have complained about this several times to the BBMP, it has done nothing about it. It just sends me an acknowledgement number. This is the condition of our government. Every day the hundreds of people, who use this particular pavement,  are forced to walk on the road at the risk of being mowed down by speeding vehicles .”

It’s no different in Malleswaram. Mr Basappa Raju of the area says people here too are forced to walk on the road as the pavement along the entire stretch of the Malleshwaram Main Road is occupied by street vendors. 

“The footpaths here are also dug up frequently by civic agencies for various works and are not restored,” he laments,  observing that pavements damaged in many parts of the city during the construction of the Metro Rail network are still not usable too. “We  want immediate action to improve our pavements,” he demands although with little hope.

 People of Koramangala, Avenue road, Majestic , Yeshwanthpura, Ulsoor and Frazer Town too have similar complaints. Mr Mohammed Ismail of Frazer Town says although the footpath on Mosque Road has been taken over by  eateries and street vendors, the BBMP takes no action. 

The problem is common to busy commercial areas like Shivajinagar and KR Market as well as pedestrian movement is hampered in these parts too by badly maintained pavements frequently encroached on by vendors and parked vehicles. Says Mr Bahadur Shashtry, a faculty in a government college, “The city needs skywalks and subways along with properly maintained pavements.   But the authorities want to waste money only on elevated corridors. I really don’t understand why they give so much importance to traffic and not to pedestrians.  If you make things easy for people on foot, more of them will opt to walk. But the government only talks about flyovers nd underpasses but never about the condition of the footpaths.”