In the heart of Pune city, a block that chokes all visitors

What it found was rampant encroachments by hawkers, very little parking space, a jumble of wires and power supply boxes — and a civic body apparatus with its back to the wall.

In part one, of our four-part series, we start with Laxmi Road, which is one of the arteries that run through Pune’s heart.

For those new to the city, Laxmi Road begins at Alka Theatre junction and ends at Belbaug Chowk near the Dagdusheth Ganpati temple. The popular market place is not restricted to the main road but spread out in connecting lanes as well as parallel roads.

Officials acknowledge that several efforts to decongest the road and surrounding areas have not yielded results. One such move was to set up one-ways on Laxmi Road and the parallel Kumthekar Road. But local residents say that while it has smoothened traffic to an extent, it has hardly helped pedestrians. Then, there were multiple attempts to make Tulsi Baug, a favourite destination of window shoppers, free from hawkers. A few months ago, the PMC even organised a “walking plaza” on Laxmi Road, with no vehicles allowed on the road that day.

But all efforts have failed. For instance, the “walking plaza” provided a free path but shopkeepers complained their businesses were affected by the “long walk and shop” experience.

“There are several issues here. The authorities have failed to find a solution because hawkers have been there for 30-40 years. Without an alternate space, where will you relocate them?” said Keshav Rao, a shop-owner opposite the temple.

“Most of the buildings on Laxmi Road are old and do not have side-margins or parking space. The roads are also narrow and the area faces a severe congestion problem. The footpaths are small and are encroached upon by hawkers,” said Prashant Inamdar of Pedestrian First, an organisation for citizens’ “Right to Walk”.

There were efforts in the past made to resolve the issue but they did not take off, he said. “The earlier plan, by taking everyone into confidence, was to rehabilitate the hawkers in the nearest possible area to ensure their livelihood is not affected. It was never implemented. Now, the hawkers have taken up the entire footpath space with hardly any place to walk,” he said.

Visitors have now given up. “I was hit by an autorickshaw last month. And given the crowded situation here, pickpocketing and theft of valuables have also become common,” said 52-year-old Shanta Tai, who used to be a regular shopper here.

On top of all this are wires and electricity supply boxes on footpaths. “There is always fear… I suffered minor burns from a short circuit in one of the loose wires from a pole,” said Tushar Gaikwad, a regular visitor to Laxmi Road.

When contacted, PMC Assistant Municipal Commissioner Ashish Mahadalkar, who is in charge of the area, said, “This is a congested area with old buildings and narrow roads, so the footpaths are also narrow and there is no scope to widen them.”

According to PMC officials, the civic body will have to establish 288 hawker zones to accommodate all vendors, and has finalised 190 such areas. “The remaining 98 are yet to be identified,” an official said.

As of now, the official said, the civic body is verifying licences “to ensure there are no new hawkers on the road”. So far, the civic body has issued 550 such licences but unofficial estimates by shop-owners peg the actual number at double the official figure.

The Indian Express spoke to several hawkers in the area who said setting up a stall here is a question of survival. “I have been here selling clothes and caps for years now and this is the only way I earn,” said Madhav, a hawker in the area.