Residents of Kasturinagar held a protest march on Saturday against footpath encroachment. Kasturi Nagar Resident Welfare Association (RWA) has been carrying out this walk for a week to raise awareness about footpath encroachment by makeshift hotels, construction debris, and garbage piles.
Venugopal Rai, the president of RWA said, “The lack of footpaths has started to affect senior citizens, children and women. They don’t feel safe coming out of their homes.”
“The problem started two years ago when the main road construction began. Last week, a 2-year-old boy was injured due to the construction debris on the road and is currently in the ICU,” told Kalaivani, a resident.
When the residential locality became increasingly commercial, hotels and vendors began businesses on the footpath, further crowding it.
The RWA has also filed a complaint with the BBMP. The BBMP visited the area last week along with the local police to conduct a clearance drive and urge roadside vendors to move their shops from the footpath. However, the initiative failed due to the lack of supervision, and the businesses restarted, alleged the residents.
