One person’s delight is another’s pain

Madhapur: While the concept of ‘street food’ gripped the city, especially the IT corridor, hard over the past five years, what comes hand-in-hand with it is encroachment of footpaths by vendors. Areas like Gachibowli, Madhapur and Hitec City are filled with vendors who occupy footpaths leaving no option for pedestrians but to walk on roads and put their life in harm’s way.

One of the major categories in this belongs to tiffin centres that provide home-cooked meals making it the preferred option for software employees, most of whom are away from home. As a result of encroachment, major traffic jams are created as autos and other vehicles are parked to the side of the road feasting on the meals.

Of course, the makeshift tiffin centre is a heaven for people like R Abhishek, a software employee in the area who says, “My company is right beside a footpath where hot, tasty meals are served. So, instead of wasting time searching for a hostel that serve meal, I come here. The food is reasonable and most of all, it’s homemade.”

Meanwhile, commuters like A Swathi are bearing the brunt. “Earlier, I was scared to walk on this road because there is hardly space for pedestrians on the footpath. I was sure vehicles, which move with great speed on these wide roads, would hit me,” she shares. P Padham (name changed) who’s running a centre at one of the footpaths here says, “I hope the government gives us some space to keep these kinds of centres running.

We don’t want to be encroachers and keep paying fines to the Traffic police. As it is I cannot afford to pay rent, so I set up this small centre here. My livelihood comes from the streets.”

By Sravanthi Sanam