Goodbye, footpath. Hello, traffic, say Bengalureans

Bengaluru: Imagine a footpath so unusable that almost everyone chooses to walk beside speeding buses instead.Welcome to Dinnur Main Road, one of RT Nagar’s busiest neighbourhood connectors. TOI found nearly 90% of pedestrians walking on the busy carriageway despite the presence of footpaths. Encroachments, garbage, parked vehicles, and broken infrastructure have reduced footpaths to a strip here — barely any space, barely any walkers.Instead of doing a fine balancing act on footpaths, citizens throw themselves in harm’s way by walking on the extreme edge of the road caressing the kerb, with the constant buzz of traffic for company.The corridor connects RT Nagar with Sultanpalya and several surrounding neighbourhoods, carrying a steady stream of BMTC buses, school buses, cars, and two-wheelers through the day. Hundreds of residents, students, and shoppers use the stretch daily, yet pedestrians are left with little choice but to share the road with moving traffic.Large sections of the footpath have been taken over by fruit vendors, cobbler kiosks, temporary stalls, banners, and commercial spillover.

In several places, shopkeepers have parked vehicles directly on the pavement, leaving virtually no room for people to walk.Garbage heaps make matters worse. Waste, discarded furniture, dry tree trunks, and branches occupy entire sections of the footpath, forcing pedestrians onto the carriageway.Continuity is another casualty. The footpath frequently narrows, disappears, or is blocked by encroachments and overgrown vegetation, forcing pedestrians to keep switching between the pavement and the road.

At several locations, the usable width shrinks to less than a metre.The situation is especially worrying around schools. TOI observed several children walking on the road because footpaths were either blocked or unusable.Dinnur Main Road is relatively narrow for the traffic it carries, and buses travelling in opposite direction often leave barely enough space along the edge of the carriageway. For pedestrians pushed off the footpath, every walk becomes a risky negotiation with traffic.For a corridor lined with homes, schools, and businesses, the pedestrian infrastructure falls well short of what the neighbourhood demands.Residents speakFootpaths have been in this condition for years without good remedy. Senior citizens, like my mother, cannot use many of these footpaths because of the huge difference in levels. The roads, too, are in poor condition, and traffic is menacingly overwhelming: Sunitha Sonu, Kaval Byrasandra resident.I walk my two children home from school every day amid constant fear of which vehicle might come from behind. When there is no safe space to walk on, what option do we have? Pedestrians are most neglected: Jennifer, RT Nagar resident.We’ve organised several awareness campaigns over the years to push for better pedestrian infrastructure, but little has changed. We recently spoke to govt school students who walk or cycle along this stretch, and many said they have simply become used to these conditions. Some even told us they have fallen while walking or cycling, but then just got up and carried on. Children should not have to navigate such unsafe roads every day: Vidhya Goggi, Dinnur Road resident.What TOI Saw■ Extensive footpath encroachments by vendors & commercial establishments■ Garbage heaps blocking pedestrian movement■ Vehicles parked on footpaths■ Uneven pavement levels require constant stepping up and down■ Broken and missing slabs■ Footpaths narrowing to less than one metre at several locations■ Lack of continuity along the corridor■ Overgrown trees and branches obstruct movement■ Schoolchildren forced onto the carriageway■ No protective pedestrian infrastructure such as guardrails or buffer zonesOverall Rating: 1/5Safety: BadHeavy BMTC and school bus traffic, coupled with encroachments, garbage, and parked vehicles, force pedestrians onto the carriageway. Broken slabs and disappearing footpaths further increase the risk of accidentsAccessibility: BadAbrupt level changes make movement difficult for senior citizens, children and persons with disabilities. Encroachments, parked vehicles and the absence of ramps severely limit accessibilityMaintenance: PoorBroken slabs, missing sections, overgrown vegetation, and accumulated garbage point to poor upkeep, leaving much of the pedestrian infrastructure unusable