Sir,

The drive conducted by the City Police Commissioner and his team to clear footpath encroachments is heartening news to Mysuru citizens.

Most of the traffic bottlenecks caused due to footpath encroachments in busy areas had been an obstacle to pedestrians, especially senior citizens and children, who have to walk on the road amid the heavy traffic leading to accidents.

Construction work and display of wares by business establishments, illegal parking of vehicles by the public, food vendors selling chats, vegetable and fruit vendors dotting the stretches are the main encroachers. Even the giant junction boxes from cables, electricity board, telephone department blocking gives an opportunity for the encroachers to start their activities.

Stringent measures by the MCC to prevent such encroachments is the need of the hour. Serving notice warnings and imposing heavy fines and punishment would deter such encroachments, but footpath encroachments are a perennial problem. Various initiatives by the MCC in providing vendor-specific locations for their business is laudable. Footpath encroachments by places of worship should be prevented and existing ones demolished.

Providing toll-free helpline number to citizens by the MCC to register complaints against any new encroachments, also helps in controlling this menace. Public participation and assistance will go a long way in checking this menace.

– Dr. Virupaksha Swamy Sarangmath, Mysuru, 26.7.2021

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