SPEAK UP: Footpath encroachments blocking Delhi's way

As footpaths in the Capital city have become a fiefdom of shopkeepers to display their products, the pedestrians in east Delhi's Laxmi Nagar area are forced to use busy roads to walk.

The pedestrians complain that they are further pushed in the middle of the road by the illegally parked vehicles of these shopkeepers and the visitors, who allegedly occupy the lanes of these roads.

The situation has been similar across Laxmi Nagar as cars can be seen occupying the footpath right beneath the Metro station.

Many pedestrians who try and walk on these footpaths, later have to come down and walk on the road as the advertisement boards and cloth hangers block their way. This becomes very inconvenient, especially for pedestrians who are either pregnant or are senior citizens.

"If you expect me to walk on footpaths then at least free them from these encroachers. Every time I try to walk on it, a hoarding or vendor forces me to walk down from the footpath," said Vimla Devi, who is pregnant and is now forced to walk on the busy road risking her life.

At various spots, the hawkers and vendors have also encroached the footpaths and lanes on the main road to sell fast food or fruits. While residents claim that this has created problems for them to walk, the major concern for them are crimes like chain snatching and pickpocketing which have become rampant on such congested roads.

"One can barely manage to walk and reach their destination, but these crowded roads and encroached footpaths have become a breeding ground to cases like pickpocketing and snatching," Sanjay Chaurasiam, a resident of Laxmi Nagar's Lalita Park.

The experts in the field of town planning, however, feel that the issue has been more of a designing flaw. If the authorities had gone through proper technical research while planning the footpaths and the lanes then the issue could have been resolved.

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

Ram added that providing the space to shopkeepers and increasing the breadth of the footpaths would allow free walking and business opportunities, which could be a win-win situation for both the parties.

DESIGNING FLAW?

• The experts in the field of town planning feel that the issue has been more of a designing flaw
   
• They claim that if the authorities had gone through proper technical research while planning the footpaths and the lanes then it could have been resolved

VOICES

If authorities have the will to remove the encroachments, then it is only a matter of 15 minutes that Delhi becomes a pedestrian-friendly city. However, if not then, at least charge shopkeepers for the space they use. This would bring revenue and discourage encroachment.”
— B S Vohra, President of East Delhi RWA, Joint Front Federation

When I shifted to a metro city like Delhi from Rajasthan, I thought that the city will have very wide roads and space, making  it easy to walk. But unfortunately, the situation here is worse than small cities. One has to walk on roads, while the vehicles ply on the footpaths,” 
— Karan Gera, Student who had shifted from Rajasthan to Delhi

I had come here to visit a friend, but the roads and footpaths in this area were heavily occupied by the encroachers, which made it difficult for me and my companions to cross the road. The authorities concerned must take appropriate actions to make sure that the issue is resolved as soon as possible as it is something which is causing inconvenience to the residents
— Kirti Singh, Tourist

When you think of the national capital. the first thing which comes into your mind is shining roads and safe walking environment. However, in reality, the roads have turned into parking lots for cars and footpaths have become like a business place to vendors. Moreover, the foot over bridges are made too high to climb
— Harshita Sharma, Tourist

We have taken out a drive to bring down the permanent encroachment and on occasions. However, drives to remove temporary encroachment is also necessary. In the end, everything heavily depends on the shopkeepers to think of society first and decide to give up encroaching and let people walk
— Santosh Pal, Councilor, Laxmi Nagar area

The authorities have made sure that the shopkeepers do not encroach the footpaths permanently, however,  the temporary encroachments  are very difficult to bring down. The shopkeepers take down the encroachment at the time of drives ,but then bring them up again once the drives are over 
— Yogendra Singh Maan, Directorate Press and Information, East MCD

EXPERT SPEAK

Encroachment (on the city’s footpaths) can never be justified. However, the authorities must look for multi-utility zones, where the footpaths can be made wider for the pedestrians (visiting the markets) and the shopkeepers could be offered space outside their shops on a rental basis (so as to prevent them from encroaching the footpaths, causing woes to pedestrians)
— Doctor Seva Ram, professor, School of Planning and Architecture