Pedestrians’ safety at stake due to encroached footpaths in Pune
Footpaths on Laxmi Road, Fergusson College Road, Sahakar Nagar, and Jungli Maharaj Road are among the few where encroachment is rampant, making it impossible for pedestrians to walk
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is observing Pedestrians’ Day on a large scale in the city, but hawkers, vehicles, and illegal structures continue to encroach footpaths on crowded city roads.
Footpaths on Laxmi Road, Fergusson College Road, Sahakar Nagar, and Jungli Maharaj Road are among the few where encroachment is rampant, making it impossible for pedestrians to walk.
Vedashree Gavaskar, student, who often travels to Fergusson College road, said, “I was very thrilled to see the wide footpaths, but soon hawkers started claiming their spots, and then it becomes difficult to walk along with friends. We often experience these hurdles at Laxmi Road whenever we go shopping.”
K Ragini was in awe of the wide clean pavement at Jungli Maharaj when she came for a visit from the US but soon was dejected when she saw how the footpaths were misused. “When I went with my family to Laxmi road, I was shocked to see almost no space to walk on the pavement. Most of the pavement is occupied by hawkers and they shout back at you if you hit their stall by mistake. I often wonder if the pavement is for people to walk or for the hawkers to sell their wares. It is very difficult and also irritating to visit Laxmi road.”
When it comes to clearing the encroachments, Pune Municipal Corporation(PMC) officials say it will take time.
Madhav Jagtap, head of the anti-encroachment department, PMC, said, “These hawkers cannot be moved because they have been doing business on Laxmi Road for the last 30 to 40 years. We want to move them, but there is no open space within the city to accommodate them.”
“According to a survey undertaken by the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation) Act-2014, those registered as licensee hawkers since 1987 were allotted 2x3 space along the footpaths and we only take action when we see them going over their allotted spaces,” he said.
Jagtap said PMC has been “working on assessing the root cause of the situation, with the road width remaining the same, there is a need for traffic planning between PMC and traffic police which is on the anvil after a meeting with the municipal commissioner.”
Harshad Abhyankar, member of Save Pune Traffic Movement, said that celebrating Pedestrians’ Day does not help find a solution to the problem.
“Such ‘days’ are typically observed in favour of weaker sections of the society. They bring their issues to the forefront so that discussions happen, projects evolve and are planned and implemented. Not only PMC, but also traffic police, Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA), Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha-Metro), schools and colleges, residential societies, and everyone concerned about pedestrians’ plight should be involved in solving the problem,” he said.
“People often have a misconception that hawkers immediately occupy footpaths. Let us note that hawkers are found on roads without footpaths too. So, footpaths don’t attract hawkers, customers do - regardless of the footpath. Even then, if pedestrians are not able to use a footpath, for this reason, it is clear that the money spent on the footpath has gone down the drain” he said.