Venkatnarayana Road gives no relief to pedestrians

The pavements on Venkatnarayana Road fall far short of expectations and provide little to no respite for those who walk. There is no stretch longer than 20 meters where the pavement is free of encroachments. 

Right from where the road branches off from Mount Road, the lack of a usable footpath is conspicuous. The area near Thakkar Baba Memorial does not have a pavement and the side of the road is occupied by metal barricades. Right after this is a stretch where the footpath is covered by construction debris from a nearby building. 

Past the signal, just before the famous Thirumala Tirupati Devasthana temple, the footpath is occupied by vehicles of visitors to the temple and flower sellers. The footpath in front of the temple is cordoned off by barricades and used by the devotees to store their footwear. Immediately after the temple, the footpath is again encroached by shops and vehicles parked next to them. 

Velammal, a flower seller in the area, says, “I have been selling flowers here for over six years. The temple is where my business is, I cannot go too far away as I won’t have many people buying flowers. I try not to obstruct the way and keep my things close to me. But it is difficult as people keep brushing past me in a rush and hinder my business due to no proper pavement being present.” 

The next part of the road is occupied by an eatery, a sweet shop and a grocery store. The vehicles belonging to the patrons of these establishments are parked on the footpath obstructing movement. The area opposite the corporation playground is under renovation. 

Further down the road, the pavement in front of T Nagar Club is occupied entirely by cars. The opposite side of the road has the JYM wedding hall which also uses the footpath in front as parking space for its guests. The shops next to Natesan Park too use the footpath as parking space. Stretch furniture, construction debris, garbage and broken concrete slabs dot the footpath in the rest of the road. 

Shops and flower vendors, too, have taken over the pavements. Long stretches also do not have any visible footpaths for use. Sita, a regular visitor to the temple says, “I come to the temple twice a week. Even though I live close by I cannot walk here as it is unsafe with all the vehicles. I take an auto as the footpath is not proper and my family is afraid of any accidents that may happen. 

In fact, we witnessed an elderly lady slip and fall down here just last month, and take extra care since then when we visit here.” With T Nagar being the focus of many smart city initiatives, one can hope the state of the pavements on Venkatnarayana Road see some improvement in the near future, and residents in the area face some solution to all their woes.