As the first phase of the govt’s footpath clearance drive concluded on July 10, TOI set out to assess what has changed on the ground and how it has impacted Brand Bengaluru. Instead of debating it from a distance, we invited brand expert Harish Bijoor to lace up his walking shoes and see the changes firsthand. Bijoor writes an unfiltered account of his Footpath Padayatra…
Harish Bijoor, a brand expert & founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc, does a 22.8km ‘Footpath Padayatra’ across the Bengaluru Saturday to audit the pavements after GBA’s footpath-clearance drive
It’s easy to sit back and criticise. It’s easy to ‘talk the talk’. Easier still to get onto a television debate and shout. Armchair city-activism is the easiest thing to do. I’ve done it all.Just to shake it all up, I decided to walk the talk and do a test-walk of the newly cleared footpaths and pedestrian ways made walkable and safe for the general public by the actions of the state govt and Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) in the last 10 days. Remember, the initiative started on July 1.On July 11, I walked a total of 22.8km of freshly cleared footpaths in Bengaluru. I absorbed the work, imbued the vibe, and listened in to the street-chatter. The mood was tentative and sombre. While the hitherto footpath hawkers were still around (chastised and watching for the signs of any GBA employee around), users of footpaths were still discovering the newness of it all. A bit confused too. A footpath without the clutter of the kiosk built in the middle of the walkway and a footpath without the hawker-buzz was something new. A footpath without the sellers occupying all the space there was new as well. The footpath now felt like a ‘Covid-time road’, as one morning walker told me in good old Jayanagara 4th T Block.I did a mixed mode of travel. I tried to walk the footpath wherever I found one, took the Bengaluru Metro (God bless BMRCL) from one point to another and rode the city streets on a motorbike with photojournalist Chethan Shivakumar from The Times Of India. I met irritated and angry hawkers and newly tickled pedestrians alike. Everybody has a view. And needless to say, all views are real and felt with passion. There are two sides to this debate of pedestrian-friendly clean footpaths. One belongs to the pedestrians and the other belongs to the ones who have used the high footfall public space that city footpaths all over the country represent to enhance their small little businesses.Firstly, how do businesses happen on city footpaths? How do they emerge and how do they thrive? It begins small – under a tree on a footpath. Footpath vendors do need shade to do their business. Under this tree sits a retail entrepreneur. He/she/they start selling cigarettes, bidis, biscuits out of PET jars and sundry other quick eats like ‘chakkuli’ and ‘kodubale’. Passers-by stop to buy and move on. Enthused, the business grows. There are too many jars to handle and too many packs of cigarettes and pan-masala to jostle. The business moves onto a cart that is wheeled in every morning and wheeled out every evening. In some cases, the carts are neatly covered with a tight tarpaulin in the night. More evolved businesses have a firmer locking system. Every cart occupies the exact point on the footpath that it did before. There is an ethic out here. No other vendor will move the one who has established his spot first. On occasions, there are fights and quarrels on this count. Businesses on Bengaluru footpaths have a habit of growing with the surrounding business traffic. What started small becomes a small little shop with as many as 150 plus items on sale. And no one objected. Not till now.Somehow this is one common model of business that goes for the cigarette, bidi, snack, flower, fruit and every other impulse-buy consumable. In come hawkers with mobile phone accessories, sunglasses and a whole host of other items as well, spreading out their bed-sheets on the footpath to define their own little business spaces. Then emerge small little teashops, quick-breakfast addas, idli shops and samosa, paani-puri and momo offerings. Around every big hospital, educational institution, IT park, 5-star hotel and other such people-magnet institutions, the hawker thrives.The footpath ceases to be a footpath altogether, as I have seen on this Footpath Padayatra of mine. Footpaths have been used to sell items of every kind. Footpaths have become small little restaurant spaces. Footpaths have become smoking ‘addas’. Footpaths have become bike-parking locales. Footpaths in Bengaluru have become everything to everyone, except the pedestrians. The pedestrian is still doing the hustle. Add to all this the fact that a whole host of bikers insist on riding on footpaths near traffic junctions – the melee is complete. In fact a hawker I met in Rajajinagar told me a clear footpath is good only for the bikers who ride on footpaths. Ouch!Fresh walking spacesSo what did I encounter on this Footpath Padayatra? I see freshly created walking spaces. The footpaths are still raw though, as there is plenty of dug-up space around. The bikes (and even cars in some cases) are parked on the footpaths, but that is another headache to be tackled on another day with another move by the traffic police, I guess. I see encroachments of footpaths by restaurants and retail outlets curbed. A whole host of retail outlets in the city do believe that the footpath in front of their outlets belongs to them. This sentiment has thankfully been curbed by this move that is 10 days old. Our more permanent retail outlets seem to be happy, now that they do not have to share their footpath space with vendors of every other kind, cluttering their approach and their view. At several spots where plush homes hide behind tall walls, I have even seen the entire footpath in front of the house being occupied by pots and planters. A great way to keep the hawker and loiterer away, I guess. But must they?Over a period of time, our footpaths have been gobbled up by the retail outlet in front of it, sundry hawkers (both permanent and roaming) of every kind, two-wheeler parking genies, and more. Pedestrians have forgotten that footpaths are meant for walking. We are a very accommodative set of people in Bengaluru. We have truly believed in the philosophy of “Swalpa adjust maadi” (adjust a little) and we allow a lot of transgressions. Even on our footpaths, which are meant for walking. We are not demanding enough when it comes to reclaiming our rights as people.Within the first 40 days of chief minister DK Shivakumar taking charge, Bengaluru has gotten into a serious mode of work. What started with the portfolio allocation of Bengaluru development (with some missing parts, of course) to Krishna Byre Gowda, has cascaded into actual ground action. I see good and quick action. Now that one part of it has begun, I really do hope this shall not be just a flash in the pan. The hawkers are just hanging around. I have seen shut hawker carts still occupying prime footpath space in many locations. Why are they still around? Anything special about them?One of the hawkers I met on my Footpath Padayatra threw a Kannada line at me that had the words “hosa parake”(new broom) in it. Her key thought was that a new broom sweeps well. I hope this is not going to be the case with the clearance of our footpaths for pedestrians in Bengaluru. I hope Bengaluru does not toggle back to the default mode when it comes to our footpaths. I don’t ever want to say, “Nodi swamy naavu irodhe heege!” Loosely translated to mean, “See sir, we are like this only!”(Harish Bijoor is a brand expert & founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc)Areas covered on this walk■ Sampige Road■ Hoodi■ ITPL■ BTM Layout■ JP Nagar■ Jayanagar■ Indiranagar■ Old Airport Road■ Srirampura■ Rajajinagar■ Rajarajeshwari NagarFree The Footpath Drive so far■ Total of 462km of footpaths cleared of encroachments■ 119km cleared in Bengaluru West City Corporation limits alone■ 1,340 shops removed from pavements■ 1,800 push carts taken off pavements■ 2,267 tin sheets installed in front of shops on pavements removed■ 2,300 steps and ramps built on pavements demolished■ 2,247 sheds dismantled
