A campaign to remove encroachments on footpaths in Bengaluru has sparked controversy online, with residents divided between welcoming safer, pedestrian-friendly streets and raising concerns about the livelihoods of street vendors displaced by the campaign.
In a post on
Shivakumar said the initiative aims to make Bengaluru’s streets “safer, more accessible and easier for every pedestrian to navigate”, while Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Bair Gowda announced that $Rs 70 crore will be spent on repairing damaged footpaths to improve walkability.
Gowda said the government is not expelling street vendors completely, but shifting them from main and secondary roads to side roads. He added that future phases of the campaign will also target abandoned vehicles, illegal parking, construction waste, garbage patches and ramps built over pedestrian walkways that obstruct pedestrians.
The campaign was launched in response to a long-standing public demand and Supreme Court directives, the minister said, stressing that pedestrians are often forced to walk on roads due to encroachments, which increases the risk of accidents. He also appealed to commercial establishments encroaching on footpaths to voluntarily remove them, saying the government’s intention was not to disrupt livelihoods but to ensure safe public spaces.
Proponents praise the walkability push
The campaign has received praise from many Bengaluru residents, civic activists and former officials on social media platforms.
Former Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao described the initiative as “commendable”, saying that the city had long suffered from footpath encroachments. At the same time, he urged the government to create areas and markets for displaced vendors so that they are not left without a source of income.
Many social media users echoed similar sentiments. The campaign should be replicated across Indian cities and implemented on an ongoing basis and not as a one-time exercise, wrote a technician in Bengaluru.
Another user said that Reclaiming Public Space aims to return footpaths to pedestrians, not privatize them.
On Reddit, some residents also shared positive comments, saying that they noticed cleaner and obstacle-free footpaths around areas like Mysore Bank Circle and KG Road. Others felt that the campaign made walking easier, even in pockets of the city.
Critics seek to rehabilitate the seller
The campaign has also drawn criticism. Some residents argued that the government was focusing on encroachments while larger civic issues such as potholes, poor sanitation and waste management, water shortages and lack of footpaths in many neighborhoods remained unresolved. Others questioned why vendors were removed before enough alternative selling spaces were created.
“The vendors needed to be allocated somewhere else, not treated like migrants,” a Bengaluru resident wrote on X. Another argued that authorities were clearing already walkable areas rather than building sidewalks where such areas did not exist.
Civic activist Srinivas Alavale also urged the government to adopt a more balanced approach.
In response to reports about the scale of the campaign, he said that clearing 1,500 kilometers seemed excessive, counterproductive and could be difficult to implement. Instead, he suggested keeping side roads out of the way, defining vending areas as mandated by law, and building consensus with street vendor unions and social welfare associations (RWAs).
“Street vendors are also an integral part of our city and they exist because they provide services that citizens need,” he wrote on X.
Even those who support the initiative said the displaced vendors deserve rehabilitation. Many users said encroachments on footpaths cannot be justified, but the authorities should ensure that designated hawker areas are provided for those who depend on street vending rather than losing their livelihoods overnight.
Many users also stressed that the campaign should go beyond removing street vendors. They demanded strict action against vehicles parked on footpaths, motorcycles plying on footpaths, construction materials dumped on paths, illegal commercial expansions and garbage points that make walking difficult.
The debate also centered on whether the campaign would have a lasting impact. While some Reddit users reported clear improvements, others said there was little change in their areas. The common view was that sustained implementation, not a one-off drive, would determine whether Bengaluru would become more meaningfully walkable.
Also read: Supreme Court says walking on footpaths is a fundamental right
What does the opposition say?
The opposition expressed similar concerns, saying the campaign should not be measured by the number of kilometers of footpaths cleared, but by the number of kilometers that remain walkable months and years later.
“The success of Bengaluru’s footpath clearance drive will not be measured by the number of kilometers cleared, but by the number of kilometers that are still walkable in the long run. “Sustainable implementation must become a permanent mechanism to prevent re-encroachment and build a truly walkable city,” said BJP leader and Bengaluru MP B C Mohan.
(With inputs from PTI)
