Mumbai: These paths are meant for parking?

By Ranjeet Jadhav Prajakta Kasale Sameer Surve and Prasun ChoudhariWhile footpaths are meant for the public senior citizens and schoolgoing children among other pedestrians have no choice but to risk their lives by walking on the road as most pavements have been illegally turned into parking spacesDerelict vehicles on a pavement along Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg on December 29 2023 PicSayyed Sameer AbediIn some places shop owners park their bikes and bicycles on them To take stock of the situation midday visited some locations in the western and eastern suburbs as well as the island city During this exercise we realised that the menace had reared its ugly head across Mumbai21kmLength of LBS MargWestern SuburbsTwowheelers on a footpath near the Oshiwara bus depot on December 28 2023 PicsAnurag AhireOshiwara bus depotOn Friday while visiting the northbound stretch of the footpath adjacent to New Link Road it was observed that the bike dealers and shop owners had parked twowheelers on the footpath opposite the Oshiwara and Goregaon bus depots Due to this senior citizens and small children had to step onto the busy roadShockingly the authorities concerned including the local traffic police division seemed completely unconcerned about the situationAn Oshiwara resident who didnrsquot wish to be named said ldquoIf you park your twowheeler or automobile opposite the Oshiwara and Goregaon bus depot the traffic police official will either tow your vehicle or give you an echallan but the same cops are least bothered about the illegal bike parking on footpaths which hints at the fact that there is some sort of understanding between the errant bike dealers and the local traffic police authoritiesrdquoTwowheelers on a footpath at the RTO signal in Andheri WestAndheri WestOn Wednesday when midday visited the New Link Road from DN Nagar to Lower Oshiwara station on the Metro 2B corridor bikes were found parked on the footpath on the sides of the northbound stretch of the road opposite Vilas Bar depriving pedestrians of space to walkVehicles gobble up space on a Nehru Road pavement in Vile Parle EastVile Parle EastThe narrow Nehru Road which links the eastern side of Vile Parle station to the Western Express Highway is one of the prominent stretches in the suburbs and sees continuous traffic flow Despite its footpaths being disjointed and barely two to three feet wide there were numerous obstacles on them But what caught our sight was how cars were parked on them It seemed that the height of the sidewalks had been levelled to ensure cars could be parked evenly Motorists were seen venturing onto sidewalks while manoeuvring their vehicles A midday reporter witnessed a bike being towed by the traffic police at a petrol pump but the authorities turned a blind eye towards the big fourwheelers on footpathsSantosh Salgare a resident said ldquoThe rules are different for different people A few days back when we requested the BMC to remove a stall from the footpath they gave at least a dozen reasons why they couldnrsquot do so but the CM announced that he was visiting the road under the deep cleaning drive the civic body removed that stall immediately This is also seen in the case of illegal car parking and hawkers The city wonrsquot be pedestrianfriendly until the BMC applies the same rules to everyonerdquoEastern SuburbsScooters on the sidewalk opposite Phoenix Marketcity in Kurla on December 29 2023 PicsSayyed Sameer AbediKurlaHeavy vehicles belonging to scrap traders were parked on the footpath opposite the BEST depot at Kurla while twowheelers were mainly parked on the pavements opposite Kurla Court and Phoenix Mall ldquoThis stretch of footpaths is never used for pedestriansrdquo said a passerby who did not wish to reveal her name ldquoLBS Road sees heavy traffic constantly but still we are forced to walk on the roadrdquo she addedIllegally parked vehicles along Lal Bahadur Shastri MargGhatkoparFour and twowheelers were parked on the sidewalk near the BMC water department workshop Bikes were also seen on the pavement opposite Shreyas Cinema There are commercial and industrial establishments along LBS Marg which is congested in some places ldquoAs the footpaths have been taken over by vehicles we have to walk on the road to get to our destinationsrdquo said Bhaskar Chavan a pedestrianA woman walks on Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg as trucks are parked on the pavement in KurlaVidyaviharA onekilometrelong line of heavy vehicles was seen on the pavement outside the Navy depot which compelled pedestrians to walk on the road Also probably due to the presence of the vehicles the footpath which had been defecated on wasnrsquot cleaned properlyAutorickshaws encroach upon a filthy sidewalk along Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg in SionSionThe footpaths on both sides of the 21kmlong Lal Bahadur Shastri LBS Marg were encroached upon by garages and scrap shops at its point of origin Sion when midday visited the areaSouth MumbaiTowed vehicles parked on the sidewalk by the traffic division at Azad Maidan PicsPrasun ChoudhariAzad MaidanMost footpaths were taken over by twowheelers inconveniencing pedestrians on Tuesday The Azad Maidan traffic division had also parked towed bikes on the footpath exacerbating the situation ldquoIt is deeply frustrating While returning home from office already tired we have to deal with the footpath situation because of the presence of twowheelers On top of that makeshift shops have encroached half of the pavementrdquo said Shreyas Shinde an officegoerThe water tanker parked opposite Rajesh Mansion on January 2Oval MaidanA water tanker that supplies water to a building opposite Rajesh Mansion was parked in such a way that pedestrians had to walk on the road ldquoIf the building needs water let the tanker inside the premises What is the need to block the footpath endangering our livesrdquo said a pedestrian When midday visited the spot the tanker had already been parked at the location for an hour according to a security guard from a nearby building The footpath outside the Industrial Assurance Building near Churchgate station a short distance away from the Oval Maidan was encroached upon by a number of makeshift shops and twowheelersWrite to usFaced this yourself Send us pictures and location details of illegal parking to mailbagmiddaycom