Two days ago, a 40-year-old balloon vendor was filling helium balloons for children near the Jayamarthanda Gate of Mysore Palace. Seconds later, the cylinder exploded. The vendor was killed instantly. Six bystanders, including women and children, were badly injured and two of the women died later.
Just two months ago, a four-year-old boy died of burns after hot oil from a food vendor on the footpath spilt on him.
These tragedies are caused by municipal negligence. Period.
The balloon vendor was illegally using a pressurised gas cylinder on one of the city’s busiest footpaths during the holiday season. Yet no official thought it necessary to stop him until he was blown apart in public view.
This tragedy is not an exception. It is how Mysuru now functions.
Mysuru today feels unadministered. Footpaths have turned into food-paths. Flex boards dot the city like ugly warts. We hear of daylight murders and drug factories and we are barely surprised anymore.
Mysuru is the hometown of our Chief Minister, yet it feels abandoned.
Ironically, just 100 metres from the Chief Minister’s new palatial house, more than 20 illegal food carts have sprung up. The administration is powerless or worse, unwilling to act.
Across the city, LPG cylinders are used openly on pavements to cook dosas, samosas, momos and gobi manchurian.
Gas hoses snake across pavements. Cylinders sit inches away from naked flames, plastic chairs and petrol-filled scooters.
It is a miracle Mysuru has not witnessed more explosions.
When enforcement begins, it is sabotaged by “pressure from elected representatives.” Many carts belong to local leaders who rent them out. Vendors pay daily ‘prasad’ to the Police and Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) officials.
No wonder over 150 licensed hotels have shut down in recent years. They pay GST, property tax and licence fees, while illegal eateries enjoy political protection and zero overheads.
We know this ‘scheme’. The Government needs money and then can get both revenue and public safety if they move street vendors off footpaths and into regulated buildings or designated vending zones.
Formalising their operations will compel compliance with safety norms, licensing requirements and most importantly taxation.
Today, what should rightfully flow into the State exchequer is instead leaking into the pockets of officials through the ‘prasad’ scheme. In most European cities, street vending is not banned — it is regulated.
In Paris, food trucks and street vendors operate only in designated zones, with strict licensing, fire-safety certification and penalties for violations. LPG cylinders require inspection tags and annual safety audits.
In Berlin, vending permits are location-specific and time-bound. Police confiscate equipment instantly if safety rules are violated.
In Barcelona, hawkers are restricted to vending corridors away from pedestrian choke-points and cooking with open flames on pavements is simply illegal.
Singapore and Bangkok are legendary for their street food, but they are quite regulated for safety, quality and hygiene. We should learn from nations where vendors exist, but pedestrians come first.
While pavements in Mysuru are becoming tinderboxes, public works are turning roads into minefields.
Roads are dug up during peak hours. Zebra crossings are painted at the 9 am peak hour traffic. Unscientific humps appear without warning. Incomplete footpaths contain death holes.
The Supreme Court once said pothole deaths are “unacceptable and frightening, worse than terrorism.” Yet contractors continue daylight chaos with no accountability.
Public works here are not designed for safety. They are designed for kickbacks. So public safety has never really been a concern for the Government.
But this tragedy is not Government-made alone. It is co-authored by us.
We don’t care about our own safety. We wear helmets on our arms, not our heads. We buy fake ISI-marked helmets knowing they will snap at the first impact.
We gather on the railway tracks to watch Ram Leela. We jump out of moving trains. We dash across highways to save two minutes. And when accidents happen, we blame destiny.
Maruti Suzuki once found that when offered airbags for Rs. 6,000, only 5 percent of Alto buyers opted for them. We don’t care about our own safety, so why would the Government?
Then, of course, we never vote for our collective cause. We vote for our caste and cash. That being the case, what can you expect but an explosion here, an oil spill there and potholes everywhere.
Where are the activists now? Where is the so-called ‘woke’ generation? We saw marches for “free Palestine” last year in Mysuru! Where is the march for a ‘free Mysuru’s footpaths’, the one we actually use every day?
Today, educated Mysureans passionately debate about Donald Trump, free Palestine, Modi Vs Rahul. Meanwhile, they ignore Mysuru, its air, its water, its dying trees and its broken roads.
Mysuru is your city. Not Washington. Not Gaza. Not Delhi. So, worry about Mysuru first.
Politicians and bureaucrats will continue to profit from chaos. We will enable it with our silence. And we will pay for it with our blood as our air, water and footpaths are polluted, one explosion at a time.
It is time, Mysureans stopped being spectators and became citizens again.
Dear readers, I wish you all a healthy and joyous year ahead. I also thank you all for reading what I write and hopefully I have done my job of entertaining, informing and evoking a moment of introspection. Once again, wish you all a very Happy New Year.
e-mail: vikram@starofmysore.com
This post was published on December 27, 2025 6:05 pm