Visakhapatnam: Footpaths turn out to be a mini commercial hub
Parts of footpaths being encroached by commercial outlets in Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam: The footpaths which are meant to be used by pedestrians have become prone to encroachments. The situation is more or less the same in most footpaths that fall under the purview of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC).
In a smart city like Visakhapatnam, people continue to face trouble even to walk safely along the main roads and junctions.
Thousands of commercial outlets and complexes are located abutting the footpaths in the city. Apparently, part of their stock or supplies and display items end up extending up to the length of the footpath near the shops.
Surprisingly, in some locations, shop owners let out a portion of the footpath for rent. Such situations are more apparent in Gajuwaka and Gopalapatnam, Pendurthi, Kancharapalem and parts of MVP Colony, among other localities. Also, the shop owners and tenants support the footpath mobile vendors with power supply.
According to shopkeepers, some of the paan shops are being let out along the footpaths with the support of the local leaders. "We pay Rs 5,000 per month to a local community leader to run the paan shop on the footpath. The rent also ensures that we do not face any interruption in running our business from either the corporation staff or the traffic police," confides a paan shop dealer on condition of anonymity. In the case of welding shops, most of the work is being carried out on the footpaths itself.
In recent times, owing to the Global Investors' Summit and the second G20 Infrastructure Working Group Committee meeting, the GVMC officials have cleared the footpaths along the routes where delegates travelled.
"The drive to clear encroachments along the footpaths will continue in the city as the corporation will not tolerate it. Going forward, the corporation aims at ensuring that the footpaths are encroachment-free," assures P Raja Babu, Municipal Commissioner.
In traffic-laden junctions, wading through congested footpaths has become a challenging task for the pedestrians.
Poorna Market, Malkapuram, Marripalem, Kancharapalem, Gopalapatnam, Maddilapalem, Akkayapalem, Gajuwaka, Pedagantyada, Kurmannapalem, Vepagunta, Simhachalam and Sujata Nagar are some of the main areas where the footpaths have become inaccessible for the pedestrians.