Why vendors, vehicles eat up footpaths

HUBLI: A few years back, footpaths were laid out in the market places and the city centre areas. But civic apathy and rampant encroachment by hawkers leave little room for pedestrians along the footpaths of some of these busiest roads. Worse, these footpaths are damaged badly.
All most all footpaths are being used for vehicle parking and are encroached upon by shopkeepers and street vendors. You can hardly walk 100 metres on the footpaths without hitting hurdles. Main roads located in the city centre like KC Circle, Dajiban Peth, Durgad Bail, Station Road and Koppikar Road are the worst affected. Adding to people's woes, at Nilgin Road and Koppikar Road, you find garbage containers placed on the footpath as the corporation authorities have not found any other place.
The footpaths in Dajiban Peth, Station Road and Durgad Bail were built nearly a decade ago, but today these footpaths have developed cracks and have become a pedestrian's nightmare. They have turned into a veritable obstacle course for people with vendors eating into the footpath space.
The scene at Lamington Road, Station Road and Koppikar Road is equally dismal. The footpaths are taken over by two-wheelers which are parked haphazardly. In Deshpande Nagar, even cars are parked on footpaths. Since these footpaths have become off-limits, pedestrians are forced to walk on the road negotiating speeding vehicles and putting their lives at risk.
"Two-wheelers are parked on footpaths. And we have no option but to walk on the road. Authorities have not made any sincere effort to clear the footpaths and make them free for pedestrians. All they do is have half-hearted footpath-clearance drives for a couple of days. A week later, the problem remains the same all over the city," said Jyoti Bhat, a homemaker.
Gururaj Patil of Chennapeth who came to Dajiban Peth on some work said: "It is better to use roads rather than walk on footpaths as the footpaths are full of cracks and gaping holes.''
Pramod J, a shopkeeper, at the bus station justified the act of shops displaying their goods on the footpath saying it is very common here. This statement amply sums up the state of affairs.
Officer quote
"We do undertake footpath-clearing drives and restoration work on top priority. All zonal offices conduct footpath-clearing drives in their respective areas. After the clearing drives, however, vendors and shopkeepers encroach upon footpaths. So the problem persists.
--M R Gireddi | Assistant commissioner, Zone No.9