BENGALURU
Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has issued strict directives to municipal and police authorities to prevent the re-encroachment of newly cleared footpaths across the city, emphasizing that sustained monitoring and aggressive enforcement are critical to protecting pedestrian spaces.
During a comprehensive virtual review meeting concerning ongoing civic campaigns, the minister outlined strict measures to tackle repeat violations. Officials were instructed to form joint task forces comprising civic and police personnel to conduct regular spot checks and surprise inspections along cleared stretches. The guidelines mandate that any recurrence of illegal vending or obstruction must be documented with geo-tagged photographs, followed immediately by the seizure of goods, imposition of heavy fines, and the registration of formal First Information Reports (FIRs) against repeat offenders.
Highlighting the scope of the ongoing two-month-long public safety initiative, the minister noted that authorities have successfully cleared encroachments across 1,373.32 kilometers of arterial and sub-arterial roads within the five municipal corporation jurisdictions. While maintaining a zero-tolerance policy toward unauthorized path blockages, the government stressed that the objective is to optimize urban mobility rather than harm livelihoods. Officials have been directed to clearly demarcate restricted zones and establish designated alternative vending spaces at suitable junctions so that street vendors can continue their commercial activities without hindering pedestrian foot traffic.
The review also addressed the massive logistical campaign to clear abandoned and long-seized vehicles choking police stations, road margins, and pavements. With the Revenue Department allocating approximately 26 acres across seven peripheral locations on the city’s outskirts, the coordinated state drive aims to relocate over 11,346 abandoned or court-tangled vehicles out of residential neighborhoods. Furthermore, parallel sanitation efforts under the “Freedom from Waste” drive have successfully cleared over 5,267 tonnes of accumulated garbage, with instructions for ward-level teams to sustain intensive cleanliness checks and penalize illegal waste dumping on private vacant plots.