All clear: MCC intensifies Operation Footpath

Regional Commissioner orders continuous monitoring to keep footpaths encroachment-free

Mysuru: The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has intensified its city-wide anti-encroachment drive to reclaim footpaths for pedestrians. Clearance operations are underway in almost all MCC Zones.

Confirming the development to Star of Mysore this morning, Regional Commissioner and MCC Administrator Nitesh Patil said the civic body has been regularly posting ‘before and after’ photographs of cleared public spaces on its official Facebook and Instagram pages to ensure transparency, accountability and create public awareness.

Patil said the drive in Zone 8 had been briefly delayed due to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process but would be completed this week.

Follow-up action

Responding to concerns over street vendors returning to footpaths soon after eviction, Patil said sustained enforcement was the only solution.

“A single drive will not prevent vendors from returning. We have issued strict instructions to local authorities to maintain continuous follow-up and monitoring to ensure footpaths remain clear for pedestrians,” he said.

Dawood Khan stretch after Operation Footpath.

Dawood Khan Street cleared

As part of the ongoing drive, MCC personnel yesterday cleared encroachments along Dawood Khan Street, from Five Lights Circle to Ashoka Road.

Several vendors operating on footpaths under the jurisdiction of MCC Zone 7 had occupied pedestrian space by displaying used door frames, doors, windows and other furniture and building materials for sale on either side of the footpath.

While some traders voluntarily vacated the area after receiving notices from the MCC, others continued to operate, prompting the civic body to carry out the eviction drive.

The materials removed during the operation were later handed back to the respective traders. Officials said some of those evicted were among the traders who had earlier been removed from Nelson Mandela Road and Sawday Road during a similar anti-encroachment drive in February.

MCC Zone-7 gangmen clearing metal roofing sheets that where proje-cting on footpath in Bannimantap in city this morning.

Operation Ashoka Road

The MCC is also preparing to launch a similar operation on Ashoka Road, which falls under the jurisdiction of Zone 4. During a progress review meeting chaired by Regional Commissioner Nitesh Patil on Monday, MCC Zonal Officers had assured that the operation would be taken up on Tuesday.

However, MCC officials later said it had been rescheduled to July 23, though it could also be carried out today (July 22).

Fresh encroachment

Meanwhile, residents have raised concerns over fresh encroachments on Sayyaji Rao Road, where traders have reportedly converted stretches of footpath into makeshift display area.

One trader has reportedly laid a carpet on the footpath to display animal replicas for sale, while vehicles modified into mobile stalls are parked along the roadside, occupying long stretches of public space and restricting pedestrian movement. Residents have urged the MCC to take action against such encroachments too.