Overview
- The Greater Bengaluru Authority announced the Safe Footpath Campaign on Wednesday and set a July 1 deadline for shop owners to voluntarily remove goods, signboards and other obstructions.
- Notice stickers for unattended vehicles will be affixed from July 1 and owners will have seven days to remove them before towing and auctioning begins on July 10.
- The state has earmarked ₹70 crore to repair nearly 2,000 km of footpaths and about ₹77 crore for ‘scientific’ pothole fixes using box-cutting and mechanised methods rather than temporary patching.
- The campaign targets arterial and sub-arterial corridors within Bengaluru where officials say pedestrians account for roughly 30% of about 1,000 annual road deaths and where vendors, parked vehicles and ad boards often block walkways.
- Implementation will require coordination among five municipal corporations, traffic police and civic agencies and could prompt enforcement clashes with shopkeepers and street vendors as works and penalties begin.