Bengaluru to launch Safe Footpath Campaign with Rs 70 crore budget on July 1

The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) will launch a citywide 'Safe Footpath Campaign' on July 1 to clear commercial encroachments and improve pedestrian infrastructure across Bengaluru. Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda announced the initiative on Wednesday following a recent Supreme Court judgment that declared the freedom to walk on well-maintained footpaths a fundamental right. The campaign aims to address safety in the city, where pedestrians account for approximately 30 percent of the 1,000 road accident fatalities recorded annually.

To support the initiative, the state government has allocated ₹70 crore to repair and improve nearly 2,000 km of priority arterial and sub-arterial footpaths within GBA limits. These priority corridors were selected from Bengaluru's total road network of nearly 13,000 km to ensure the safe and smooth movement of pedestrians.

Minister Gowda stated that shop owners who have encroached on footpaths have been given until July 1 to voluntarily remove their goods, signboards, and other materials. Once the deadline passes, civic authorities will begin clearing the remaining obstructions and imposing heavy penalties on violators. He emphasized that footpaths are public assets and commercial activities must remain strictly within private premises.

In addition to commercial encroachments, the campaign will target illegal parking on walkways. Parking on footpaths will be strictly prohibited, and any vehicles found violating this rule will be towed away immediately by the authorities.

The GBA will also address abandoned vehicles parked on roadsides. Officials will begin affixing notice stickers to these vehicles on July 1. If owners do not remove them within seven days, the vehicles will be towed and auctioned starting July 10.

Furthermore, officials have been directed to carry out scientific pothole repairs, upgrade major junctions and traffic signals, and prohibit parking within 75 meters of signalized intersections to help ease traffic flow across the city.