“Entire India and the world are looking at Bengaluru. We need to take care of our city,” Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said on Friday, defending the government’s footpath clearance drive that has triggered criticism over the eviction of hundreds of street vendors.
The Chief Minister conducted his first city-wide inspection since assuming office, reviewing the ongoing footpath encroachment clearance drive across the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) limits. He began at HAL before going to HSR Layout, Jayanagar and Madhavan Park.
However, Mr. Shivakumar did not inspect a few locations as planned, including Ecospace in Bellandur and Sampige Road in Malleshwaram, and only drove past some reclaimed stretches. At HSR Layout, he got down, walked a few metres and lifted a loose cobblestone from a footpath to point out its poor condition to officials.
Addressing the media after concluding the inspection at Ashoka Pillar Circle in Jayanagar, Mr. Shivakumar said the government had taken “a big step” in reclaiming Bengaluru’s footpaths over the last 15 days.
Pointing to more than 900 pedestrians deaths in last three years, he said, “ We are doing this work for the convenience of the citizens. If there is no footpath, people will walk on the road. Then there will be problems with the movement of vehicles,” he said.
“We are not against street vendors and will not trouble anyone. However, vending will not be permitted on main roads. The Supreme Court has also issued clear directions on this issue, and we may have to take some tough decisions,” he said.
“The poor are ours. It may be private or government land, but it is not possible to do business in some places. We also want street vendors to survive,” he added.
“We had given identity cards to street vendors. The court had given a stay order on it. Now we will start this process again. The designated places will be identified. Street vendors can do business there,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that “a big mafia” was operating behind the encroachments. “There will be criticism. We are ready to accept criticism for the betterment of Bengaluru. There is a big mafia behind this. There have been cases of rowdies extorting money from traders. We have given freedom to the police and GBA officials. Clean Bengaluru is our goal,” he said.
When asked why no alternative arrangements had been made for displaced street vendors, Mr. Shivakumar said, “Let all the allegation-makers make their allegations. We will identify other places for them. They will not be allowed to trade in places where there are many vehicles and in front of someone’s property. We will look for a place without any problem. They should come in the morning and leave in the evening.”
Mr. Shivakumar said the drive has so far covered over 435 km of footpaths, with 9,878 encroachments removed. Thousands of shops have been cleared, he said.
Published - July 10, 2026 08:56 pm IST