Hamirpur footpaths taken over by vehicles, people pushed to roads

Unauthorised parking on the footpaths of the town had posed life threat to pedestrians as they were forced to walk on the driveway of the roads.

The Public Works Department had constructed footpaths along the highways and state roads crossing through the town to provide safe walking passage to people. These footpaths had also added to the safety of the shops along the highway. It is also observed that at some places shopkeepers had also encroached on the footpath, leaving little free way to walk, which added to the problem. It is surprising that cars are parked on these footpaths, which are meant to walk and could not carry loads of vehicles. At many places, these footpaths are also damaged due to idle parking.

Digvijay Thakur, a resident of the town, said it was unfortunate that vehicle owners were parking cars on footpaths and creating trouble for pedestrians. He added that in the New Road Market, some shopkeepers had placed stock on the footpaths while some use it to park vehicles to load material in front of their shops. At most of the places, footpaths are constructed on drains and are not made to carry the heavy load of cars and commercial vehicles, but police usually ignore this.

Additional Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar said strict action would be initiated against violators parking on footpaths. He added that shopkeepers should refrain from encroaching on the footpath as it only adds to the problem. Ajmer Thakur, Executive Officer of Municipal Committee, said that the MC conducts regular drives to remove encroachments from the market. He added that the MC imposed a fine on them from time to time. He said cooperation of businessmen is important in keeping the market properly regulated.