Footpaths across the coastal town, particularly in important thoroughfares, have shrunk in width over the years thanks to rampant encroachments by shops and business establishments, leaving pedestrians jostling for space on the roads.
A visit to several important thoroughfares brought to the fore the utter chaos and the lack of action by the authorities concerned.
While in some places, like Jawaharlal Nehru Street and Mahatma Gandhi Road, the existing pavements were rendered useless, in several others they were absent.
According to an official of the Local Administration Department, they have been taking up enforcement drives from time to time to clear encroachments on arterial roads. “The department conducted one such drive recently. It is an ongoing process. We clear encroachments but they reappear after some months. We will intensify the drives.”
Although the government is implementing the Smart City Project, its impact remains to be seen, particularly when encroachments take place with impunity.
P. Devanathan of the People’s Pulse, a civil society group, pointed out that the encroaching of pavements by various establishments, including government departments, had become the order of the day.
Enforcers of the law should not be encroachers, he said. He recalled that the pavements on Nehru Street were flanked by iron grills in the 1980s.
The street had regulated space for walking and parking. But over the years, the authorities removed it and there was nothing left of it now.
“There have been several instances of government buildings encroaching over the pavements on several arterial roads. People’s Pulse has taken up the issue with the authorities concerned, who have assured that the encroachments on platforms will be removed soon,” he said.
According to the guidelines of Indian Road Congress, roads with pedestrian traffic are supposed to have a footpath with a minimum width of 1.5 m. However, in Puducherry, the remaining footpaths have been taken over by shops.
The authorities seem to be completely oblivious to the encroachment, say residents. According to M. Gowri, an entrepreneur, “Footpaths are meant for pedestrians. The construction of stalls or extension by shops is not legally permissible. This does not leave any space for people.”