mid-day campaign: Hawkers, parked cars push pedestrians on to the roads

The central districts of the city have their own share of chaos Almost impossible to navigate at the best of times at peak hours hawker and parking woes push traffic problems here straight into the stratospheremidday ventured into this chaos to see just how the footpaths here fared and found them choked with parked vehicles hawkers and encroachments forcing pedestrians right on to the road and in the path of oncoming trafficParelAlong the 2km stretch starting from Gaurishankar Chhitarmal Sweet Shop at Parel junction to Dadar TT junction B A Road has among the citys widest footpaths on both sides But these footpaths can barely be seen thanks to vehicles and hawkers In the evening people stop by to shop in the markets here packing the area to the gills This crowd is then forced to walk on the roads Right under the nose of BMCs administrative ward office here a footpath that is at least 30 feet wide is completely packed by twowheelers and fourwheelers Ironically there is a board at the entrance of the FSouth ward Parel Dadar Naigaon office which says No ParkingThe words are even painted on the footpath But no one seems to take the BMC seriously and 80 of the footpath is gobbled up by parked vehicles The footpath on J B Marg in front of Gaurishankar Chhitarmal Sweet Shop is covered by hawkers and vegetable and fruit vendors A little ahead the rest part of the footpath is captured by shops that have set up illegal extensionsDadarAt Hindmata a portion of footpath near Union Mansion has met with the same fate A bus stop in front of the building has reduced the size of the footpath and twowheelers and shop extensions have swallowed the remaining spaceThe footpath outside Union Mansion at Hindmata is completely encroached by twowheelersDue to traffic congestion on B A Road bikers are often seen riding on footpaths At one of the most important junctions near Kohinoor Electronics it is impossible to use the footpaths as twowheelers are parked at one end and roadside eateries take up the rest of it The road here becomes dangerous to walk on as state transport buses and luxury buses leave for Pune from here Near the MumbaiPune bus stand tours and travel stalls have encroached the footpath of B A RoadShindewadiAt Shindewadi shopkeepers have parked their twowheelers near the bus stops Here many shopkeepers have also kept articles to sell right on the footpath in front of their shops One shopkeeper who wished not to be named said Most of these bikes belong to people living in the buildings hereFootpaths encroached on Ambedkar Road in ShindewadiThe main reason for parking on footpaths is the lack of designated spaces for parking If I want to bring my vehicle I will be forced to park on the roadside or on these footpaths Many of these buildings are very old and at the time of construction parking was not an issueDensely populatedParel and Dadar are densely populated and the latter has the biggest street market in the city At Parel festivals like Ganpati are celebrated on an ostentatious scale making it a nightmare during such timesLocalspeakParking on footpaths is a big nuisance and one simply cannot walk on footpaths anymore This leads to citizens taking the streets and creating trafic jams The BMC must ensure stack parking lots at regular intervals along roads just like private societies have This will create infra for parking Milind Panchal ParelThe problem of twowheelers taking over footpaths is chronic in Dadar Footpaths here are already encroached and reduced in size now haphazard parking makes it a nightmare There is barely any space to walk from Dadar Fire Station to Purandare stadiumDhiren Khanolkar Dadar NaigaonExpertspeakOnstreet parking is regulated around the world We just need to follow rules that any wellgoverned city follows Also double and triple parking is a clear violation of rules and needs to be cracked down upon instead of only cracking down excessively on hawkers When I spoke to the BMC staff at Vakola they said parking is not our problem Approach RTO That cannot be the caseRishi Aggarwal city issues expert founder Mumbai Sustainability CentreNotice vehicles encroaching a footpath near youSend us the details at mailbagmiddaycomWhatsApp us at 7021423100Also Readmidday campaign Citizens traders politicians join battle to free Mumbai footpathsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates