Hawkers capture footpath

BANGALORE: Any day past 4 o’ clock in the evening, the entire stretch of footpath, down the busy road near the Pavitra Paradise Junction in Basaveshwarnagar, gets unusually crowded. The utter chaos and thronging crowds at the shops resembles a fish market. But the bone of contention is that the footpath encroached by the vendors here, by setting up shops during the evening hours, is basically to eke out a livelihood by selling fruits, vegetables and flowers.Another factor adding to the prevailing chaos is that a traffic signal just a few metres away adds to the problem. With cases of footpath encroachment becoming increasingly common,the pedestrians are finding it extremely difficult to move about in the city. Harish, an IT employee who does most of his shopping here, said, “There is absolutely no place to walk here. You end up walking on the road and the chances of getting hit by a speeding vehicle becomes really high.” He adds, “But these vendors have been doing business here for many years. So, you can’t really blame them.”A stationary shop owner operating on the same road, said, “Everyone knows about the problem. But,the concerned authorities have not taken any action. Why do you think the affected residents  haven’t complained yet ? They know this issue will not be addressed?”Other than the vendors, it is the lack of civic sense among the commuters which poses a big problem. Two-wheelers are parked on the footpath as also haphazardly on the road right where the ‘no parking sign’ is displayed. One of the vendors complained, “We do business here only for a few hours in the evening. Look at the number of cars and two-wheelers parked here, though the parking space is strictly on the other side.A circular had been issued in 2010 and it clearly stated that the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) would take action against vendors who sell commodities encroaching footpaths. Basaveshwarnagar corporator Padmaraj was unavailable for comments. When we contacted Agrahara Dasarahalli corporator Roopadevi, she said, “These vendors have been doing business here for decades. All the vendors have license to do business and hence, it is not illegal. This year, they are yet to renew their licenses.“When asked about pedestrian’s safety, the corporator had no answer. The solution does not lie in evicting the vendors as it was done in the case of Gandhi Bazar hawkers. There is an urgent need for an alternate solution where both vendors and pedestrians can co-exist in harmony.