Broken footpaths on Bannerghatta Road forces pedestrians to walk on busy stretches

Bengaluru: The residents near Bannerghatta Road have complained that the poor state of footpaths in the area have made it difficult for the commuters to walk. Even though the state of footpaths has been a concern for a long time, only little has been done to address it, citizens said.

In many stretches, the footpath slabs are either broken or missing, making pedestrian movement impossible.

“The pavement stretch near Fortis Hospital, opposite IIM-B on Bannerghatta Road, has been in bad condition for years. Pedestrians have to stumble over uneven blocks, jump over gaps, or walk in sewage on the road,” said Dr C Andrade, a resident of Panduranga Nagar.

Similar is the situation in many other areas of the city. A resident of Jayanagar, pointed out that many of the footpaths are occupied by small vendors and at many other places, it is either filled with garbage or debris.

“We cannot walk even 100 meters on the footpath easily. There is either garbage or debris if it is not already encroached by street vendors,” said Uma Y, a resident of Jayanagar.

Many other residents also pointed out that many footpaths are occupied by transformers and hence they were scared to walk over.

Bengaluru South City Corporation Commissioner K N Ramesh has been going on footpath walks with residents and volunteers to identify the problems and address them effectively.

“We have observed these problems when I go on a walk. I have asked the officials to take action. I will try to visit all the wards in our corporation,” he said.

Through these walks, Ramesh is building a network of volunteers, residents, and officials to effectively address the problems.

“It is impossible for the officials to identify all the problems. We want to work closely with the Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) and people so that they can flag any concerns to the officials. We want to build confidence among the residents,” he said.