The absence of footpaths between Poonja International Hotel and Hampankatta Junction, in front of Prabhat cinema, and other stretches on the busy K.S. Rao Road has forced people to walk on the road.
The fascination for concrete roads has not meant safer roads. Many such roads, such as the one between KSRTC bus stand and Bejai church junction, between Mallikatta Junction and Bunts Hostel, Kadri Kambla Road, do not have footpaths.
Even the recently-laid Kodialgutthu Road is not an exception.
In some places there is no land available to lay footpaths and edges of concrete roads are so deep that pedestrians have to either jump off the road or face the approaching vehicles and hope that they might not get hit.
Councillors in the Mangaluru City Corporation council have not discussed this issue though many major roads were upgraded as concrete roads three years ago.
At a meeting of the council recently, the leader of the Opposition BJP Premananda Shetty, referring to absence of footpaths and drains, told the ruling Congress: “Yes, we did not construct them. But why are you continuing the same mistake.”