With civic agencies and the police doing little to remove or dismantle encroachments on footpaths and roads, Kochiites are pinning their hopes on the Kochi Metropolitan Transport Authority (KMTA) doing the job.
The newly-constituted body, which has, among others, the responsibility to ensure safe roads and footpaths in the region, is also expected to take a call on haphazard and obstructive parking of vehicles, including on footpaths, road shoulders and at congested junctions, to ensure safe and hassle-free movement of vehicles and pedestrians.
According to a transportation planner, the KMTA should use powers vested under “land use”, so that road users can make optimal use of public space. Public interest must be accorded priority over what vendors and shops term as right to earn a livelihood. Another way of curtailing vending is by levying a fee, based on the area occupied by traders on footpaths or road shoulders.
Many vendors and stall owners, who claim to have licence issued by the Kochi Corporation, illegally occupy the entire width of footpaths, forcing pedestrians to walk on the road.
Former Mayor K.J. Sohan, who headed the Corporation’s town planning standing committee, expressed dismay at vendors and encroachers thriving even in the vicinity of the High Court and the Corporation office. “It is no more the poor and downtrodden sections of society that are into vending goods. Most vendors are controlled or employed by a few influential people. Government agencies have hitherto not held them accountable, though they do not pay taxes and have not registered with Food Safety and other departments concerned,” he said.
On their part, local bodies must specify their location and curb encroachments. In Kochi, the post of Town Surveyor has been remaining vacant for about a decade, while survey offices are closed. Such bodies ought to have maps which specify the extent of government land in each area. They must be revived so that encroachers could be identified and evicted, said Mr. Sohan.
“It is high time that a standardised design was made mandatory for vendors, just like in most cities worldwide, so that they do not encroach further into public spaces,” said P.M. Harris, chairman of the works standing committee of the civic body. All encroachments into public spaces, including waterbodies, must be dismantled in right earnest, without yielding to pressure from vested interests. It had to be seen how effective the KMTA would be in the matter, he added.
