Protesting against the lack of footpaths and walking space on their roads, the residents of Sanjay Nagar in Bengaluru came out in large numbers on Sunday to form a human chain demanding their ‘right to walk.’
The campaign, which started at 9:30 am in front of the Radhakrishna temple in the locality, saw many children participate too.
The ‘Adjust Beda, Footpath Beku’ (No adjustment, we want footpaths) drive started after footpath construction at Dr Rajagopal Road came to an abrupt halt,” said Sathya Sankaran, one of the campaign organisers.
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad dropped in to address the concerns of the campaigners. He was met with many questions from angry residents, ranging from project delay to lack of proper maintenance.
Residents reiterated that they are forced to walk on drain covers and dodge roadside vendors, which has resulted in many of them meeting with accidents.
Sankaran, who was hospitalised for a month after falling down while walking on a drain cover to avoid traffic, told TNM, “I was walking back home when my leg caught in between slabs and I fell down on the road. It was pure luck that no vehicles ran over me.”
Many daily commuters also pointed out that they couldn’t even walk on the road as waste from the drains was dumped on the roadside. Residents were also furious about the permission given to roadside vendors as they had taken up the only space available to walk.
“BBMP opened up the drainage in order to clean it and then dumped the waste on the roadside. It sat there for two months,” alleges Prabha, another Sanjay Nagar resident.
The Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) designed the footpath and the project is being implemented by the BBMP.
Stating that Rs 7 crore has been allocated for the project, Manjunath Prasad said, “I have offered my complete support for the project, but some commercial establishments have objected saying that space for parking will be lost and it will turn out to be bad for business. I am with the people and we will go on with this project.”