Amidst shrinking footpath space and encroachments, denying rightful space to pedestrians in most parts of the city, the Mysuru City Corporation is carrying out a drive against footpath encroachments from Wednesday.
Though the focus of the drive is near the Mysuru palace where encroachments are said to be rampant, the MCC is expected to continue the drive until this week for clearing encroachment in commercial hubs like Sayyaji Rao Road.
The decision follows the inspection by Mayor Shivakumar and Commissioner Lakshmikanth Reddy on Monday evening.
The street vendors carrying out business on the footpath in these places will be cleared, the MCC said.
The Mayor said the MCC will ensure that encroachment does not persist after the drive and the Commissioner has been told to look for alternatives for the vendors after the eviction. “The MCC will strictly enforce pedestrian space, ensuring no hawing on the footpath. I agree there were drives in the past too and the vendors resumed business after a few days of the drive. This time, such things will not happen,” he said.
Many councillors of the MCC had raised the issue of footpath encroachment in the city centre and sought action at the recent council meeting. The Mayor had assured action.
The councillors argued that encroachment near the palace had caused severe inconvenience to the public and also tourists who come from different parts of the country.
Two years ago, two pedestrians were injured grievously in a serial mishap on New Sayyaji Rao Road after they were forced to walk on the road due to encroachment of footpaths. This forced the police to carry out a special drive and booked cases against roadside vendors for encroachment of footpaths. But the encroachment did not stop after this as hawking returned after a few days of the drive.
“I have discussed with the Commissioner on the hawking zones. A solution will be found soon. But, the MCC will act strictly against encroachment,” the Mayor promised.
In 2021, the MCC had identified seven vending zones in different parts of the city and sought the government’s approval to the Detailed Project Report (DPR) it prepared for the same. But, nothing materialised as footpath hawking remains unrelenting. The vending zones were proposed at Ballal Circle, Vijaynagar High Tension Line Road, in front of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bannimantap and near P&T quarters in N.R. Mohalla. Out of the seven proposed vending zones, the traffic police had refused to give a No Objection Certificate (NoC) to one that falls in the limits of MCC’s Zone 5. The MCC identified alternative sites and sent another proposal to the government.
