Delhi's Laxmi Nagar footpaths not for pedestrians

The Capital's sidewalks and footpaths, once used by the pedestrians for their walks, have now become the fiefdom of shopkeepers to display their products. Pedestrians in areas such as East Delhi's Laxmi Nagar are using the busy roads to walk on.

In fact, the pedestrians complain that they don't even have the edges of the roads to walk on, since these have been taken over by parked vehicles.

The situation is the same all over Laxmi Nagar. Beneath the metro station, cars occupy the footpaths while people walk on the roads. "When I shifted to a metro city, I thought I'll have wide roads and open spaces that make it easy to walk. But the situation is different. One has to walk on the roads, while vehicles travel on the footpaths," said Karan Gera, who had shifted from Rajasthan to Delhi.

Town planning experts have blamed design flaws. Had the authorities gone through technical research while planning the footpaths and lanes, they say, these issues could have been resolved.

"Encroachment can never be justified, but authorities must look for multi-utility zones where footpaths can be wider and shopkeepers are offered space on rental basis," said Doctor Seva Ram, a professor at the School of Planning and Architecture.