At the beginning of 100 Feet Road in Indiranagar, a man has set up a tender coconut shop on the pavement. Business is brisk, given the number of people who stop by.
In Kasturi Nagar, a restaurant has taken the concept of open kitchen to a new level by setting up a cooking station on the footpath with a gas cylinder, stove and other paraphernalia. Other establishments in the area have taken a leaf out of the restaurant’s book.
On B.P. Wadia Road in Basavanagudi, fruit vendors have found permanent rent-free space on the pavement. On Sampige Road in Malleswaram, vendors on the pavement have found greater patronage than the established shops. This has prompted even big stores to extend their shops onto the footpath to keep vendors away from their doorstep.
Similar scenarios are found in neighbourhoods across the city, be it residential or commercial. Most pavements are out of bounds for pedestrians. So much so that after driving, walking is probably the most difficult task to accomplish in the city. Residents’ associations, citizens and activists have tried to bring the issue to the notice of authorities, but little has been done to rectify the problem, they say.
Sharath Namburi, a long-time resident of Malleswaram, has seen the quiet neighbourhood grow into a commerce-driven area in a very short span of time. Residents and pedestrians are the casualty of this development, he says. “Try coming to the area during a festival. There is no way one can walk on the footpath. On other days, pedestrians are denied the right to continuous walkways, with shops lining the entire stretch starting from Mantri Mall. Numerous appeals to authorities have not led to any change,” he said.
For Aruna Newton, president of the HAL 2nd Stage Residents’ Welfare Association, non-availability of the pedestrian space has made the entire neighbourhood unsafe.
“Pedestrians are vulnerable and exposed to all kinds of dangers. We have been seeing increased cases of molestations, chain snatching by motorists who find pedestrians an easy target as they are forced to walk on the road,” she said.
She points to the peculiarity of pavement encroachments in different parts of Indiranagar.
On 100 Feet Road, establishments have been using pavements to extend their enterprise. One pub has created a reception area on the footpath, which is not only a violation of pedestrian rights but also of building norms, she said.
On 12th Main Road, mobile eateries have occupied pavements. “On 80 Feet Road, restaurants use the footpath as an area to wash vessels and as a garbage transit point,” she said, adding that in all areas, establishments uses the footpath as parking space for customers.
Most residents point to the inability of the local authorities concerned to address the issue.
“The pavement inside and outside the 4th Block complex in Jayanagar is completely encroached by traders. After repeated complaints, authorities came and cleared the encroachments. But the vendors are back at the same spot the next day,” said C.N. Kumar, a resident of Jayanagar and member of First Block Organisation of Residents for Clean Environment (FORCE), Jayanagar.
Will hawking zones solve the problem?
Activists say that there is an urgent need to protect pedestrian infrastructure.
“We cannot have hawkers at the cost of pedestrians. But, at the same time, the small shop-owners need to be protected. The best way is to create hawking zones across the city and reclaim pavements for pedestrians,” says Mr. Kumar.
Sunish Jauhari, founder of Concern for Road Safety and Pedestrian Safety (CoRPS), a not-for-profit organisation, has been working with residents’ associations and councillors to conduct road safety audits across the city.
“We have been working with residents of HSR Layout, Bilekahalli and Jayanagar. Roads are ranked on 40 parameters. With the results, we provide design solutions. For instance, in HSR Layout we have submitted a design to create a pedestrian island, correcting the damaged pavements among other things,” he said.
But nothing can be achieved without a mandate and a budget, he said.
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad said, “There is no compromise on pedestrian safety. We have been trying to make footpaths accessible to pedestrians. We have been carrying out drives to remove encroachments across the city.”
On creating hawking zones, the BBMP Commissioner said, “We have been undertaking a detailed survey of hawkers to provide them with identity cards. We have also met them several times to identify locations to create hawking zones.”
