Where pedestrians have no space, no say

In Hubli, pedestrians have to walk at their own risk: children walk to school, adults walk to work, the elderly take a stroll. The most vulnerable are children and senior citizens. Increasing number of vehicles, narrow roads and footpath encroachments are posing a risk to this most vulnerable category of road users.
The situation is worsened by the city's roads, which have not been widened to meet the growing vehicle and pedestrian demand. Footpaths are virtually non-existent as they are abused--- for trade by petty vendors and for parking by two-wheeler owners.
In the absence of footpaths in most of the roads in the city, people are forced to compete for road space with motorists. This makes the pedestrians vulnerable to accidents. The danger is high during peak hours in the morning and evening.
Children often face the greatest risk. The roads in front of Rotary School in Deshpande Nagar, in front of St Mary's School, opposite the swimming pool complex in Cotton Market are some of the busiest ones. In the absence of footpaths, students have to walk on the roads.
Pramod Badiger, parent of a school boy, said that he does not allow his child to go to school alone. He said parents in the locality would accompany the children as they have to cross the road to reach their school in Vidyanagar.
Sangeeta Koppal, a high school student, said every day it is challenging for them to walk to their school in Deshpande Nagar as vehicles zoom across and with no pavement, they are forced to walk on the road endangering their lives. "Parents accompany students as crossing the ever-busy road is dangerous,'' she said.
Despite the dangers pedestrians face, they have been ignored by transport and city planners. Recently, the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) completed 50 years. But when it comes to providing one of the basic amenities like footpaths, the civic body has failed. HDMC must ensure that at least in more crowded areas roads are widened and footpaths are cleared of encroachments and repaired, said traffic and civic experts.
Most roads in Keshwapur, Vidya Nagar, New Cotton Market, Hosur and Old Hubli don't have footpaths. Some roads have footpaths only on one side.
Many footpaths in the city have been encroached upon by shopkeepers. The civic authorities have done little to clear the footpaths and provide the rightful space to pedestrians. According to Naveen J, a vendor, they can attract better business only when they display their wares on footpaths. It is because of the authorities' apathy that these vendors are thriving.
Plans on anvil
"I agree that there are no footpaths in many areas. We are aware of the problems faced by the pedestrians. We have plans to construct footpaths in dense areas and we are making an estimate.
Prakash Garag | Superintending engineer, HDMC