Bengaluru’s civic woes
The Karnataka government has launched a series of drives in Bengaluru to clear encroached footpaths and address garbage blackspots. While citizens support the initiative, street vendors are protesting the lack of designated vending zones and the potential for displacement.
Why it matters
The conflict highlights the ongoing struggle between urban infrastructure development and the livelihoods of informal workers in rapidly growing Indian cities.
Over the last month, residents of Bengaluru have witnessed the Karnataka government waking up to some age-old problems such as encroached footpaths, garbage blackspots, footpath riding and the like.
Spearheaded by the new Greater Bengaluru Development Minister, Krishna Byre Gowda, back-to-back drives since July 1 saw civic authorities attempt to reclaim the city’s notoriously bad pedestrian infrastructure from encroachments by commercial establishments, street vendors, abandoned vehicles, and garbage dumps — problems that most residents had simply resigned to live with.
Though citizens have welcomed the drives, street vendors argue that they were never given vending zones. Moreover, garbage dumping and blackspots exist mostly due to inefficient waste collection as well as civic apathy. In some cases, dumping is carried out by the civic workers themselves due to the lack of waste transfer stations.
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