Pedestrians struggle as shops and homeless encroach Wall Tax Road

The arterial road that sees heavy footfall from the commuters using the central railway station even has a dedicated pickup point for Uber and Ola cabs but no access to footpaths anywhere close by. The access leading up to the underground subway is blocked by hawkers and small vendors. 

Further down, the state of the pavements is no better. The road is home to hundreds of shops that have made it a practice to leave their wares on display on the pavements. Shops have also used the pavements to advertise or as parking areas for customers and employees. 

The numerous hotels that dot the stretch are also guilty of similar violations. There is no uniformity in design even in large parts of the road that does have some semblance of a footpath. The width of the pavements is erratic, with some stretches so narrow that they are unusable. The frequent breaks in the pavements by way of junction boxes and electric poles also cause major inconvenience. 

M Ravikrishnan, a businessman who frequents the area laments that he cannot walk properly during peak hours in the afternoon. “There are so many obstacles – from people sleeping on the road to garbage strewn about. It takes so long to walk a short distance, and its even worse when there are families with elderly people or children trying to cross the area.” 

The flaws are best encapsulated in a stretch of the road right outside the Corporation Girls School. While it was noteworthy that it was the only part of the road where the pavement had a railing that prevented parking or any other encroachment, it was also unusable as the exit is blocked by a portion of the railing and the rickshaws that were parked alongside it. This effectively negated any benefits of a railing on pavements. 

Wall Tax Road has long been a homeless hotspot, an issue largely unaddressed by the civic bodies. Many families have made the stretch of the road their homes with all their belongings arranged on the pavements. 

People can be seen cooking, washing up and sleeping on the footpath. The area has also seen instances of children living on pavements being kidnapped at night. There have been frequent reports of injuries to those living on the footpaths due to erratic drivers. This also highlights the failure of the civic body on tackling homelessness in the city and the setting up of adequate number of shelters. 

“We have lived here for many years. Once in a while, some officials will come ask us to move away or tell the shops on the footpath to be removed. But in a few months, it will all go back to being the same. We don’t have any other place to go to. They have not given us any solution to our issues,” said Saroja, of one of the families living on the Wall Tax Road footpath. 

Broken pavements littered with construction and other debris and garbage is a common sight as we go further along the road. While there have been drives to remove encroachments and create pedestrian-friendly roads, the effects do not seem to be lasting. One such drive took place in February on Wall Tax Road and NSC Bose road, but the area has seen little change.