The Kerala State Human Rights Commission has directed the District Collector and the City Police Commissioner to take immediate steps to remove the obstacles put up on the footpath at Statue Junction and nearby areas, hampering movement of pedestrians.
Commission Chairman J.B. Koshy issued orders to the Collector and the Commissioner on the basis of a complaint filed by Kamalalayam Rajan. The petitioner had complained that those undertaking agitations and advertisers had taken over the footpath in front of the Secretariat till Pulimoodu, near the General Post Office. The petitioner had also submitted photos as evidence to show the misuse of the footpath and how movement of pedestrian was hampered.
The commission noted that the footpath in the Statue locality was not accessible to pedestrians. The directive has come even as the district administration’s much-publicised drive to remove encroachments upon footpaths and roads in the capital has failed to take off.
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The administration had said hoardings, flex boards and banners would be removed and hawkers, including second-hand book vendors, would be shifted. As footpaths had been encroached upon, pedestrians were forced to move along the carriageway risking lives.
Thiruvananthapuram Road Development Company Ltd., concessionaire of City Road Improvement Project, had approached the District Collector and the City Police Commissioner seeking action against encroachers in the stretch developed by them.