The Pottery Road footpath beside the railway compound in Bengaluru’s Richards Town has become hazardous and largely unusable, with residents reporting debris, missing streetlights, illegal dumping, public urination and poorly managed traffic barriers despite repeated complaints to railway authorities.
Residents said the problems followed work to quadruple railway tracks, which began nearly two years ago. Avenue trees were cut during the work, but remnants of the trunks remain along the compound wall. Streetlight poles, including a mini-mast, were dismantled to facilitate construction of a new platform, and the railway boundary wall was extended. The poles and fittings have not been replaced, according to residents.
The lack of lighting has turned the stretch into a dark spot after dusk, residents said. Zafar Sair, a Richards Town resident, said the area had become a convenient dumping ground because it remained unlit. He also said incoming trains had started stopping at East Railway Station, leading some passengers to alight and cross towards the Pottery Road side of the station.
According to Sair, the section of Pottery Road is one-way, but concrete barricades placed by the Traffic Police have been moved to one side and not reinstated. The corner has consequently become a site for rubbish dumping and public urination, he said. The condition creates difficulties for pedestrians using the road near the railway compound, particularly after dark.
Residents have called for the railway authorities and civic agencies to coordinate an immediate clean-up. Their demands include removing tree trunks and construction debris, reinstalling streetlight poles and fittings, restoring the concrete median, renovating a defunct police booth on the Pottery Road side and regulating auto-rickshaw parking.
Albert R, founder-president of the Cooke Town Nivasigala Sangha, said the footpath was not only dilapidated but had also become an open urinal. He alleged that the local police had not taken effective action to prevent the nuisance and sought restoration of the footpath in the interest of pedestrians.
The issue places responsibility across several agencies. Railway authorities are linked to the track and platform work, boundary-wall changes, removal of lighting infrastructure and debris clearance. The Traffic Police are responsible for the placement of concrete barricades, while civic and police authorities are involved in footpath upkeep, sanitation, enforcement and the management of roadside activity.
A Bengaluru North City Corporation Executive Engineer for the Pulakeshinagar area said he would look into the matter. A South Western Railway engineer was not available for comment when the report was published. Residents are seeking action on the footpath, lighting, debris, median, police booth and parking arrangements to make the stretch usable and safer for pedestrians.
