Walking on Mysurursquos streets no longer the joy it once was

  • | Sunday | 11th November, 2018

“Work on the pavement near Kukkarahalli Lake will be taken up once storm water drain line is done. However, just negotiating one’s way along the pavement, avoiding fellow pedestrians and tripping over vendors and their wares, makes walking on this arterial road anything but a welcome exercise. This thoroughfare, which practically runs across the heart of Mysuru, is lined by one architectural wonder after the other. Added to this is the trouble of crowds milling around the entrance of Devaraja Market, which only furthers the pedestrians’ agony. Mysuru: One need look no farther than the novels and short stories of the acclaimed author RK Narayan to find lyrical vignettes describing the joy of walking along the streets of Mysuru, which in the writer’s day, retained its anglicised name: Mysore.

Mysuru: One need look no farther than the novels and short stories of the acclaimed author RK Narayan to find lyrical vignettes describing the joy of walking along the streets of Mysuru, which in the writer’s day, retained its anglicised name: Mysore. Although the actor-director Shankar Nag recreated Narayan’s Malgudi in the hilly hamlet of Agumbe in Shivamogga district, it was while strolling along the streets of Mysuru that the town took definitive shape in the author’s mind and a discerning reader is likely to stumble upon markers for Malgudi even to this day while on a leisurely walk around the ‘Heritage City’. However, the visitor, no doubt enjoying the process of discovering Malgudi’s real-life representations populating the city, either in its many lakes or structures, is unlikely to experience that sense of bliss that Narayan might have during his jaunts around Mysuru.Once an idyllic little city, which prided itself on its leisure and laidback outlook to life where walking predominated among the modes of getting from one place to the other, Mysuru is no longer a haven for pedestrians. In a textbook case of progress overtaking reality in Mysuru – pavements , even on arterial roads such as Sayyaji Rao Road, and those leading to Karanji Lake and around Kukkarahalli lake , are either not present, or unusable. There is no sign of any path for pedestrians along one side of Kukkarahalli Lake, a spot frequented by tourists and visitors alike.MLA for Chamaraja constituency, under the ambit of which falls Kukkarahalli Lake, L Nagendra said that since the road is not extensively used by pedestrians, a pavement may not have been planned on a part of Bogadi Road adjoining Kukkarahalli Lake by the town planners. “If there is a need for a pavement, I will definitely facilitate it,” said Nagendra.On the other hand, walking along the bustling Sayyaji Rao Road is an extremely uncomfortable experience. The road is almost always busy, and a significant portion of the already narrow pavement is taken over by hawkers and vendors, leaving little space for walkers to manoeuvre around. Added to this is the trouble of crowds milling around the entrance of Devaraja Market, which only furthers the pedestrians’ agony. This thoroughfare, which practically runs across the heart of Mysuru, is lined by one architectural wonder after the other. It would perhaps, not be a stretch to say that the road is, in and of itself, a monument to the city’s rich past. Walking along the road should ideally be among one of the most memorable experiences, one that transports pedestrians to another era, with the present sticking to the past as little more than a blurry burr. However, just negotiating one’s way along the pavement, avoiding fellow pedestrians and tripping over vendors and their wares, makes walking on this arterial road anything but a welcome exercise. The civic agencies in the city need to remember that there is more at stake here than merely the comfort of pedestrians. Given the sheer volume of tourist spots lining the avenue, it is on Sayyaji Rao Road that one is bound to find most number of tourists, and it is incumbent on the government and district administration to ensure that there is little, if anything out of place on this road. It would not bode well for the image of the city should visitors start grumbling about the discomfiture associated with walking along the road.It is also regrettable that other roads leading to prominent tourist destinations such as Mysuru Zoo and Karanji Lake too are not in great shape. While one finds trash heaped in mounds along Narasimharaja Boulevard leading to the junction near Karanji Lake, the pavement is little more than a small strip before it widens close to the entrance of the waterbody. At a time when both the government and local stakeholders in the tourism industry are striving to enhance the city’s reputation as a global tourist hub, the lack of basic facilities such as pavements along such key roads does little to boost its standing among international cities.“Lack of pavements near Mysuru Zoo has not just inconvenienced public but those visiting Mysuru too. Our request demanding pathway was unheard for a long time. Officers claim they would create footpath once the road is widened and this would never happen as there is no space at all,” said Sharath, a resident of Ittigegud.Mysuru City Corporation commissioner KH Jagadeesh said he was not aware about lack of footpath near the zoo and would look into the problem. “Work on the pavement near Kukkarahalli Lake will be taken up once storm water drain line is done. With regard to pavement on a section of Sayyaji Road, there are legal issues and hence the delay,” he told TOI.More recently, pavements along Hunsur Road became the casualty of the city’s tryst with rapid and unbridled urbanisation. Along with its enormous trees, the wide pavements were once the pride of Husnur Road. But, with the street marked for straightening, the pavements have been demolished, including one near the Jaladarshini Guest House, much to the chagrin of the locals. Citizens are fervently hoping that once the repair of the road is completed, the government agencies restore the pavements along the road to their original condition.

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