In Ctg, footpaths not for pedestrians only

If one randomly walks through a footpath on any road in Chattogram city, they will almost always find the footpaths not suitable for walking, with those being largely occupied by vendors, hawkers, or even parked vehicles.
For instance, while walking on the footpath beside a diagnostic centre on KB Fazlul Quader Road, scores of motorcycles of medical representatives are often seen parked, in utter violation of rules.
The situation there remains the same from evening to midnight.
“We have to walk on the road amid risk as we cannot use the footpaths due to motorbikes illegally occupying the space for parking,” said Rashed Hasan, a pedestrian on the road.
Not just this footpath; in fact, almost every footpath across the port city has largely become inconvenient for pedestrians due to illegal occupation and delayed development works.
Visiting some of the major thoroughfares in the port city, including Nawab Sirajuddaula Road, Momin Road, Telipotti Road, OR Nizam Road, SS Khaled Road, KC Dey Road, Jamal Khan Road, Chittagong College Road, and Abdus Sattar Road, this correspondent observed that vendors, hawkers, shops, beggers and others continue to occupy the footpaths, making it an arduous task for pedestrians to walk merely 200 metres without any sort of interruption.
In Nawab Sirajuddaula Road, shops of steel furniture were seen to occupy a section of the footpath beside Chawkbazar Post Office by keeping almirahs for painting and finishing works, preventing pedestrians from using the footpath.
“We are compelled to avoid this portion of the footpath to avoid getting paint sprayed on our clothes or inhaling paint particles,” said Shipra Nandi, a resident of Chattogram College East Gate area, who was seen passing by the footpath carrying groceries from Chawkbazar kitchen market.
Echoing her, Kamal Uddin, a banker, said such illegal occupation of footpaths has been going on for years, but nobody ever looked into the matter.
At six points on the same road — including Dewan Bazar, Deedar Market, Jainab Colony, and Room Ghata — this correspondent observed footpaths to be illegally occupied in some way or other.
Be it furniture shops, grocery stores, or street vendors, everyone seems to want a piece of the footpath.
Flower shops were seen taking up the footpath along Cheragi Pahar Intersection on Momin Road. In Chawkbazar’s Telipotti Road, sanitary items were seen kept on the footpath.
Riaz Uddin, a student of Chittagong University who was passing by Telipotti Road, called upon authorities concerned of Chattogram City Corporation and traffic department of Chattogram Metropolitan Police to take strict measures to free the city’s footpaths from illegal occupation.
Contacted, CMP commissioner Hasib Aziz said they have plans to conduct drives soon after Durga Puja to free the footpaths for pedestrians.
Sheikh Mohammad Tauhidul Islam, chief executive officer of CCC, said, “Executive magistrates regularly conduct drives against illegal occupiers of footpaths, but they keep returning within a few days. Nonetheless, the drives will continue.”