Pavement miseries

Aricles and Photos: Times of India

Contractors make merry, pop go pavements

Bangalore: Pavements are not meant for walking, they are for repair works, changing tiles. And entrapped are pedestrians unaware of the contract game, which ensures crores in “prize money” for contractors.

Sometime ago, the Karnataka Land Army lost its contract with the BCC for apparent shoddy work. Right now, it is the prerogative of ward corporators to award contracts for civic amenities, including pavements, and there are numerous such local contractors waiting for a chance. Logistics apart, the pavements are indeed in a bad shape... loose bricks coming out, gaping holes in the middle of pavements and, worse, in some cases, one is better off walking on the road.

Right now, there are some six kinds of pavements— like stone slabs, concrete, gravel and inerlocking blocks. By consensus, stone slabs are the most durable and something Bangaloreans have grown up with. Then, what explains the pedestrian-unfriendly pavements of today? “If there is road cutting, digging or any other work carried out by agencies like Bescom, BWSSB, the pavements will definitely get damaged,’’ says BCC engineer-in-chief Rame Gowda.

A veteran of Malleswaram asks, “Why were sturdy slabs replaced by these monstrosities called interlocking blocks?’’ S.V. Venkatesh Murthy, joint director, Karnataka Land Army Corporation, replies, “They look nice, percolation of water is better, the blocks are joined by sand only, so groundwater recharge is better.’’

Allow walking, not hawking on footpaths

Bangalore: There is more hawking than walking on our city’s pavements. And these small-time businessmen have ensured that both pedestrians and vehicleusers are put to utter discomfort.
Walk on any of the alreadycrowded roads of Majestic area — K.G. Road, Subedar Chatram Road, W.H. Hanumanthaiah Road, K.G. Circle, Avenue Road, Chickpet area — you will find more than half of the footpath occupied by these sellers. The story is no different in areas around the Jayanagar shopping complex and city’s showpieces, M.G.Road and Brigade Road.

The police and BCC officials have turned the other way. For obvious reason. A hawker occupying 15 sqft of “no man’s land” on M.G. Road gives Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 bribes per month to beat policemen and BCC officials. The same can be a whopping Rs 1 lakh in the Majestic area. This is a conservative estimate The Times of India drew up after speaking to some footpath vendors. However, Commercial Street has been saved this ignominy as it is small and there is hardly any space for vehicles and pedestrians to move.

If it is hawkers in most areas, it is shopkeepers who are guilty in Shivajinagar. They have extended their shops to pavements to sell their wares. Pavement shopping is not new to the city. Every area, be it the middle-class Malleswaram, Basavanagudi, Rajajinagar, Vijayanagar, Yeshwanthapur, Chamarajpet, or the up-market Koramangala or Indiranagar, they all have this problem. If hawkers are to be blamed to a large extent for gobbling pavements, authorities are also equally responsible for it. Separate hawking zones have been promised by the authorities at different times, but nothing has been done till now.

There is also intransigence on the part of hawkers, who fear losing their business if moved to a proper market. Take Malleswaram for example: Some citizens want hawkers on the 8th Cross shifted to the market, while some don’t. Elected representatives are siding with hawkers, who are seen as votebanks, while the police are happy because of their “mamool”.

The law specifies that hawkers are allowed only if they hold their goods in hand and keep moving, without obstructing pedestrians or vehicle-users. If the hawker remains static in a particular place by occupying footpath and sells goods, it becomes an organised act which is illegal. Pavement shopping can’t be stopped. It is a must for any urban environment. It provides employment to a large number of semi-literate and uneducated lot of our country, who otherwise would take to crime,” a senior police official, who did not want to be named, said.

The answer: Create enough hawking zones.