The bitter conditions of the footpaths in Bengaluru and the maladministration of the civic bodies have side-lined the pedestrians from using them.
Bengaluru is a city where some of the busiest areas have been developed with well-planned infrastructure, while there are several areas where there no proper roads or proper footpaths for the pedestrians to use.
The Silicon Valley just like most of the cities have been divided into layouts and most of the footpaths are built on top of the sewage canal. The footpaths at most of these layouts are built using solid rock pieces or concrete blocks which are patched up with cement.
The civic authorities have turned a blind eye towards the footpaths that many of them are severely damaged with many missing blocks in between them and several of them are in a wiggly condition. Several factors including the poor quality of construction and misuse by the people have led to the destruction of footpaths.
The picture above is from MSR Nagar in Mathikere, one of the busiest roads in the area that houses MS Ramaiah Colleges and Hospital. In this busy road, which is always filled with people, mostly students, over three huge gaps can be seen on the footpath in a 200 m stretch as the concrete blocks are missing from their place.
One side of the road is also not well lit, which can endanger the lives of pedestrians and many people have injured themselves after falling into the sewer. This is the same with many roads in the city and many of the footpaths are constructed way too high making it difficult for old people to use them.
In August, the Karnataka High Court while giving its verdict on the pathetic conditions of roads and footpaths endangering people's life said that people can directly approach the court to seek compensation from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) for any loss caused by the bad infrastructure.
Due to the dilapidated condition of the footpaths, many pedestrians choose to walk on the road only to get knocked down by some vehicle. For people living in Bengaluru, walking on footpath is a daring act which requires a little practise of hopscotch.
