In Koramangala, pedestrians elbowed out

BENGALURU: The development works being carried out by the government will come to a naught if it does not take tough action against encroachers on the footpath and remove flex boards and banners of different political parties and telecom companies.

The footpath near the Sony Signal is either encroached or suddenly disappears while moving towards Ejipura. The residents and commuters demand the government and the civic agencies to address this long pending issue faced by pedestrians.

Lambasting at the lackadaisical attitude of civic authorities and the government, Ujjwal complained that the footpaths are either encroached by street vendors or used for parking vehicles and that leaves little or no space for the pedestrians.

“We are forced to step on to the road risking our lives and Sony junction is one of the busiest signals,” he added while leaving a question for the government to be addressed - Is asking for a clean wide footpath too much to be fulfilled?

The political parties which come with a slew of developmental projects right before the election, launch simultaneously at every street do not care for the pedestrians and commuters lives while putting flex boards either at the lamp posts which hides the signal partially or care to do little when the commercial banners are tied to the tree branches thereby obstructing the path of the walkers.

While speaking to one of the residents, Kunal Jain, it was highlighted that most of the banners not only block the street view, but come up without BBMP approval.

“One can clearly see the banners across the city. Despite the civic agencies coming hard on the banners, the illegality continues. The civic agencies must chalk out a plan to put an end,” he added.

Flex boards emit toxic fumes when burnt and are not considered bio-friendly. On December 20, the Karnataka High Court issued a notice to the state government and the BBMP on framing of rules under Section 10 of Karnataka Open Spaces Act 1981. The petitioner, Mayige Gowda, had stated that there are over 23,000 unauthorised hoardings across the city, but little has been done by the civic agencies to remove them.

Sujit Yadav, a resident of Koramangala said, “Why the civic agency or the police cannot put the responsibility on the political party or the organisation which put up such hoardings.”

He went to demand a swift action by the BBMP against the institutions responsible for putting up the hoardings which even after being removed find a place either by the roadside or the drains.

We carry out drives against illegal hoardings: Hari Prasad, BBMP ward engineer
What is BBMP doing to remove the encroachments on the footpath?
We do remove the encroachments, but right now there is a proposal with the BBMP to give some space to the street vendors , who earn their living. Since the proposal is neither approved nor finalized, we continue to evict them.

Flex boards put up by various political parties and commercial establishments have come up on the street. How is the BBMP addressing the issue?
Most of the unauthorised hoardings are put up during night time, but we carry out frequent drives to remove them.

How can one spot an illegal hoarding?
All the authorized hoardings should have a number. For example a commercial hoarding must have a commercial number. If the number is absent, it shows that it is illegal and not authorized by the BBMP.