Footpath vendors near ever-busy suburban bus stand force pedestrians to walk on road
Mysore: Pedestrians are forced to walk on the ever-busy suburban bus stand road endangering their lives as the footpath is encroached by hawkers. Large scale encroachment of the footpath on the stretch in front of St. Bartholomew’s Church near the bus stand by vendors selling various items has made the footpath congested and forcing pedestrians to walk on road.
This footpath is always busy as thousands of commuters go to the bus stand to catch buses to their destinations daily. Though the footpath is broad enough, a portion of it is already occupied by autorickshaws, as there is a pre-paid autorickshaw counter at the corner of the bus stand.
The autos line up around the Church and continues behind the bus stand also. With autos occupying a portion of the footpath and vendors occupying some more portion of the footpath, the walkway has become narrow and congested for pedestrians.
Vendors use tables and chairs to display items such as fruits, flowers, watches, clothes, footwear, belts, wallets, purses, sun glasses, plastic items, caps, hats and food items. They also install large umbrellas and even put up plastic and tarpaulin sheets above to protect them and their items from sun and rain which also adds to the woes of pedestrians.
This footpath is frequented by thousands of people who alight at the bus stand to go towards Sangam Theatre, Clock Tower, Town Hall, City Bus Stand, Devaraja Market, Ashoka Road, K.T. Street, Gandhi Square, Sayyaji Rao Road and surrounding places. As the footpath is occupied by autos and vendors, only about three to four feet of the footpath is free for pedestrians. This hindrance has become a bane to women, children and senior citizens who are now risking their lives by walking on the busy Bengaluru-Nilgiri road.
Though there are Traffic Police at the pre-paid auto counter, they are not bothered about the problems being faced by the pedestrians as it is the duty of the civic authorities to clear footpaths for pedestrians. The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) authorities should take steps to clear the footpath meant for pedestrians and also take steps to provide alternate place for the vendors to conduct their business.
City Top Cop, Mayor react
The problems faced by pedestrians have come to our notice and we have also observed it. Footpath is meant for pedestrians and its encroachment is leading to people walking on roads which has caused accidents. If MCC comes forward to clear the encroachments, we will provide security to them.
— K.T. Balakrishna, City Police Commissioner
We have discussed about this issue in the Council Meeting following numerous complaints from the public. We will bring this to the notice of the District Minister and take action to clear the footpath.
— Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath
This post was published on October 25, 2019 6:45 pm