Blaming the law-flouting pedestrians wholesale for the chaotic state of the capital's footpaths and roadsides does not speak of pragmatism. True, there are compulsive lawbreakers. But pedestrians willing to abide by law, and thus remain safe, while walking along busy roads outnumber them. Then the question is: where are the walkways? Alongside the obstinately pervasive menace of footpath encroachment by hawkers, gobbling up footpath space by varied types of concrete structures is also there. After a considerable pause following an administrative campaign a few years back, it has staged a comeback. This insidious encroachment has once again become business as usual.
Ranging from commercial establishments, mostly shopping malls, to makeshift car or other repair centres to even house-fronts, they are found abutting the walkways. In many upscale areas, the scene eventually emerges literally atrocious. With a considerable swathe, or, in cases, large chunks of footpaths encroached on by these establishments, the pedestrians are driven into the traffic-filled roads. That this situation invites inconveniences and hazards for the genuine footpath users is understood. These days it pervades the whole capital including its sparsely populated fringe areas.
In the prevailing situation of footpath encroachment and the authorities' periodic efforts to clear the valuable space, unlawful occupants are well in place. With allegations of evil collusion being rife, confrontations between hawkers and the different authorities are now integral part of the eviction drives. Few footpaths in Dhaka and other cities of the country have yet to be made effectively free of the traditional encroachers. At this point, the return of the menace of such encroachments bodes ill for the city's overall footpath maintenance as well as pedestrian movement. Despite the brief interludes of smooth movement, the continued deterioration in the plight of Dhaka's sidewalks is a sad commentary on the capital's livability. The surreptitious return of an old encroachment practice that is resorted to by unscrupulous building owners, is, evidently, troubling. On being allowed to be in place, it carries the potential for snowballing into another big hindrance to the proper use of footpaths.
The permanent as well as improvised structures sprouting adjacent to footpaths, most of those encroaching on the public space, are a typical sight in Dhaka. The structures include small and big garages, which block walking space with dysfunctional and repaired vehicles kept right on the footpaths. As for offices and commercial centres, parking on the nearby sidewalks has long been the order of the day. Given the prevailing reality, pointing fingers only at the errant hawkers may not yield much result. Other types of footpath encroachers ought also to share the blame. Routine eviction drives mostly prove ineffectual. The solution to the problem has to involve relentless interventions by the capital city development authority -- RAJUK, and the two city corporations. There is no logic in sparing the 'white collar' and locally influential encroachers. Toll-collecting syndicates involved here manage intervention by authorities. First, those syndicates have to be dismantled.
