High Court Pushes For Footpath Restoration

The Telangana High Court has expressed serious displeasure over the condition of the footpaths in the state's capital city, Hyderabad.

A High Court bench comprising Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy issued instructions to the concerned authorities to take up the work of restoring the city's "disappearing" footpaths at the earliest, on February 11.

The orders were issued while the bench was hearing a PIL filed by advocate Mamidala Thirumala Rao, who had raised concerns about the "negligent attitude" of the state's authorities towards the problem of footpath encroachment. The petitioner pointed out that the encroachment had put the lives of pedestrians at risk.

The bench voiced its agreement with the petitioner and said that while some footpaths were destroyed in road expansion projects, others had been encroached almost fully by street vendors and hawkers.

Faulting the state government for not dealing with the problem earlier, it asked the latter whether Hyderabad's pedestrians were expected to "walk on air".

The court then asked the government to undertake a comprehensive survey of the footpaths before filing detailed affidavits on the matter.

It also directed the concerned officials to clear and restore the city's affected footpaths, and to crack down on any encroachers so that the pedestrians could walk around the city freely and safely.

The bench added that the status of Hyderabad's sidewalks would be regularly monitored by the court.

The next hearing on the matter has been scheduled for April 15.

It is pertinent, here, to point out that the High Court had previously issued similar directions on the matter to the authorities concerned. However, very little was done to remedy the problem.