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Footpaths in Pune closed for walking, but open for business
These roads, in key areas like Pimpri-Chinchwad and Hinjewadi have no space for pedestrians
Footpaths on Dutta Mandir road, Kaspate Vasti road and Kalewadi phata, all key pedestrian zones in the Balewadi area, are now encroached on by hawkers, vendors and food stalls.
The complaints that HT received are many. However, on visting the area, HT finds Kuparam Dewanji refuses to call his shop Matoshree fresh mart “illegal”.
“It is on the side of the road and over the footpath near Omega Society. I have a proper shop selling vegetables. I also deliver them. Before I was on the main road, but now I have my own shop,” he claims.
That “own shop” is on Dutta Mandir road footpath, leaving no space for pedestrians to traverse.
On the Kaspate Vasti footpath, a stall owner selling South iIndian snacks has a regular flow of people troughout the day. He says, refusing to give his name,“I have been here before the road was made. Why should I move out of my space? Officials do inspect, but during that time I simply shut shop and return the next day.”
The new roads in these areas all boast long stretches of footpath; and now those stretches have turned into business areas, leaving pedestrians no choice but to walk on the road, often into incoming traffic.
With the Ganeshutsav round the corner, the Dutta Mandir road is set to shrink further.
The Ganesh Mitra Mandal in the area has been displaying the idol on the road for the past 34 years. “Earlier, we were not occupying so much road, for we had our own plots; but, due to road widening five years ago, we have no option but to set up our pandal on the road... partially,” says Ganesh Kalate, president of the mandal. “We have all the formalities and permission and we are trying to keep space for traffic to pass too,” he adds.
What residents of the area say
“Encroachment on this road come up the moment there is free space; the next day, one will find a tapri (kiosk),” says Tejaswini Sawai, resident of Wakad. Sawai works with the social sector and travels to work on this road on her two-wheeler. “This is the only road that connects our society. There is no alternative road, so we are constantly stuck in traffic.”
“There is hardly any footpath to walk on in PCMC. If one is to go from Rahatne phata to Metro Hospital and further until Kunal hotel, the footpath is completely encroached on. There is a school near by and it is very difficult to drive on the road with school children forced to walk on the road instead of the footpath,” says resident C S Palkar, who is employed in the area’s hospital and walks to work daily.
“We are tax payers and feel bad that our money goes down the drain for these unauthorised fly-by-night shop keepers and restaurants who don’t even bother to check if where they are setting up is footpath or road. Worst is people park vehicles to shop here, adding to driver woes, as well as for pedestrians,” says Sachin Londhe, who traverses this road daily for work and is also part of PCMC housing society federation.
According to K C Garg, secretary, PCMC cooperative housing society federation limited, “Leave the footpaths alone. Our roads are 40 per cent encroached on with illegal shops and bad parking by educated people.”
Will implement hawkers policy soon, says Ingle
Satish Ingle, executive engineer, building permission department, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) speaks to Hindustan Times on the issue of encroachments on the footpaths in Balewadi. Major areas affected include Dutta Mandir road, Kaspate Vasti road and Kalewadi phata, all key pedestrian zones in the area.
Are you aware of the number of encroachments in your area?
Yes. We receive at least 50 complaints a month and we promptly tackle these complaints. These encroachments are usually on the prime locations on main roads which lead to traffic chaos. The hawkers are attracted to set up their stalls here as the pedestrians are in huge numbers.
What steps have been taken to ensure that footpaths and roads are free of encroachments in areas like Dutta Mandir chowk, Kaspate Vasti and others?
The footpaths are meant for pedestrians to walk. We have dedicated teams who monitor the situation and take necessary actions to remove the illegal structures whenever we get complaints.
How does the department monitor the situation?
We have created three teams in our department. Each team has one encroachment inspector, eight labourers, four police constables and ten home guards who conduct inspections in the area. They are equipped with dumpers and a crane. These three teams monitor their respective areas regularly and take action against the complaints received. Besides, they also conduct surprise checks.
Has it been effective? If not, what further steps do you propose?
The surprise checks have been effective. We are also planning to streamline these stalls. Whenever we take action against these hawkers they remove their stalls for a day and then they are back again at business. So we want to create a hawkers zone and implement hawkers policy. Once the jurisdiction of the hawkers is finalised it will be easy to remove the illegal stalls.
