Visakhapatnam: Footpaths not meant for pedestrians

Visakhapatnam: For years, illegal encroachments along the footpaths have become a major hurdle for the pedestrians.

Many small-time vendors find the footpaths a convenient venue to sell their products or operate their business. Shop owners in various areas such as Gajuwaka, Gopalapatnam, NAD, Marripalem, Kancharapalem, Dwarakanagar, Dabagardens, Akkayapalem, Maddilapalem, Jagadamba junction and Poorna Market utilise a major portion of the footpath extending in front of their outlets for the display of their products.

In some cases, the shop owners lend a portion of the footpath, stretching along their outlets, for other vendors and collect monthly rentals from them as a source of an extra income.

As a result, many pedestrians find it a challenging task to pass through the encroached footpaths meant for them. Eventually, it pushes them to use the busy roads which at times lead to accidents.

Most of the footpath encroachers include mobile tiffin vendors, seat cover workers, mechanics, pan sellers, pani-puri vendors and those involved in welding works.

During peak hours, commuters use the space abutting the footpath for the parking purpose. This has become a major reason for the traffic congestion, especially in busy junctions, giving a tough time for the pedestrians to use the footpath.

"Several raids were conducted to clear encroachments on the footpaths in various areas. But the encroachers continue to reappear after a few days. The GVMC is planning to organise special drives exclusively to ensure footpaths sans encroachments. Penalty will also be charged among repeated encroachers of the footpath," says D Sridhar, Zonal Commissioner (Zone V).

In order to ease the traffic flow, road widening works and construction of flyovers are normally carried out by allotting heavy budgets and demolishing a part of the existing buildings and infrastructure. Apart from focusing on such expensive projects, clearing the cellar for creating a parking space and ensuring footpaths free of illegal occupations would go a long way in controlling the traffic flow. Also, it is a cost-effective measure that benefits both pedestrians and commuters.

• Many small-time vendors find the footpaths a convenient venue to sell their products or operate their business

• In some cases, the shop owners lend a portion of the footpath, stretching along their outlets, for other vendors and collect monthly rentals from them as a source of an extra income

• Most of the footpath encroachers include mobile tiffin vendors, seat cover workers, mechanics, pan sellers, pani-puri vendors and those involved in welding works

• During peak hours, commuters use the space abutting the footpath for parking purpose and this has become a major reason for the traffic congestion, especially in busy junctions, giving a tough time for the pedestrians to use the footpath

• Several raids have been conducted to clear encroachments on the footpaths in various areas. But the encroachers continue to reappear after a few days. The GVMC is planning to organise special drives exclusively to ensure footpaths sans encroachments, says D Sridhar, Zonal Commissioner (Zone V)Many small-time vendors find the footpaths a convenient venue to sell their products or operate their business

• In some cases, the shop owners lend a portion of the footpath, stretching along their outlets, for other vendors and collect monthly rentals from them as a source of an extra income

• Most of the footpath encroachers include mobile tiffin vendors, seat cover workers, mechanics, pan sellers, pani-puri vendors and those involved in welding works

• During peak hours, commuters use the space abutting the footpath for parking purpose and this has become a major reason for the traffic congestion, especially in busy junctions, giving a tough time for the pedestrians to use the footpath

• Several raids have been conducted to clear encroachments on the footpaths in various areas. But the encroachers continue to reappear after a few days. The GVMC is planning to organise special drives exclusively to ensure footpaths sans encroachments, says D Sridhar, Zonal Commissioner (Zone V)