Street vendors operating stalls on a footpath in front of Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Bengaluru.
| Photo Credit: ALLEN EGENUSE J.
Action against encroachments on footpaths may begin from Wednesday, as part of the ‘Safe Footpath Campaign’, with the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), in coordination with the Bengaluru Traffic Police, rolling out the drive between July 1 and 10 across a 2,000-km road network in the city.Announcing the campaign, Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said, “Prepare a list of roads where the drive has to be conducted, create awareness among shops and vendors in these areas, serve them notices, and then move ahead with clearing encroachments if they do not budge.” However, corporation commissioners said roads have already been identified and that vendors on several stretches have been warned multiple times to remove encroachments. In such cases, the clearance drive will begin on July 1 itself.During a meeting on Tuesday, the Minister clarified that the footpath clearance drive is aimed at improving pedestrian safety and is not intended to displace street vendors.“Restrictions on vending apply only to about 20% of major roads where pedestrian movement is severely affected, while vending continues to be permitted on the remaining roads. Shop owners must voluntarily remove illegal encroachments from footpaths, failing which action will be taken as per law,” he said.While the North Corporation has identified 39 roads spanning over 109 km, while the West Corporation has set a target of identifying 10 km of roads in each ward. The corporation officials said engineers and other staff have been trained to identify and fix stretches requiring intervention. They said that while efforts are under way to clear footpaths, the exercise becomes challenging when the focus is limited to arterial and sub-arterial roads, as such drives are easier to carry out on ward roads.‘Constitutional Right denied’Days after the Supreme Court declared the right to walk on footpaths a fundamental right, Greenpeace India’s Bengaluru Rising campaign, along with residents of Rajarajeshwari Nagar, marked broken, missing and encroached footpaths with yellow “crime scene” tape highlighting, “Constitutional Right denied here”.Amruta S.N., campaigner, Greenpeace India, said, “Every bus or metro journey begins and ends with a walk. If we want more people to choose public transport and active mobility, we must first guarantee safe, continuous and accessible footpaths.”She added that clearing footpaths requires a comprehensive approach to reclaim pedestrian space. Pointing out that Bengaluru’s biggest obstacles are infrastructure failures such as poorly placed utility boxes, transformers, construction debris, parked vehicles, and uneven footpath gradients, the members demanded that the city must address all forms of obstruction through inclusive street design. Published - June 30, 2026 08:42 pm IST
