Hyderabad footpaths: Going, going…gone

Hyderabad: Does the city still have footpaths? ask many citizens as most of the footpaths are either encroached by vendors or have become illegal parking lots. Vexed with no action taken up by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation officials, a few social activists took the issue on social media and requested the authorities of the civic body to address it.

A few pedestrians pointed out that walking on city footpaths has become an everyday challenge as almost in every locality, the footpaths were either broken or encroached by street vendors. In Secunderabad, Sanath Nagar, East Marredpally, Hitech city and many more areas, the footpaths are gobbled up by street vendors.

"The slabs of footpaths in many localities of Sanath Nagar are broken and have become illegal parking lots with many parking their bikes on them. We are forced to walk on roads as footpaths are already occupied. Despite several requests, officials concerned have not carried out repairs to them," said Anil, a local.

"Footpath slabs at Hitech city are removed and this is causing hardships to people. There is no maintenance of footpaths in the city. Further, the officials concerned must make sure that they put a caution board whenever they take works or repairs to the footpaths so that people can avoid taking that route," suggested Sai Teja, a social activist.

"With many footpaths encroached by street vendors, we are forced to walk on the roads, which is very risky. There are chances of people falling into open drains or getting run over by vehicles. Many times, we have urged the GHMC and the traffic officials to take stern action on encroachers, but nothing has been done," added Robin, another social activist.

"Though footpaths are meant for pedestrians, they are now-a-days taken by street vendors. At Ameerpet, the footpaths slabs are broken and the entire stretch has become a parking lot, forcing us to walk on highway. We have requested the GHMC to lay new slabs and also take stern action on those parking their vehicles on footpaths," said Sirisha Reddy.