The recent visit of the President had caused the police to act effectively against encroachments on footpaths. However, a day after the President’s departure from Dehradun, encroachment on footpaths especially for parking vehicles has resumed with the police now turning a blind eye to this. The Dehradun visit of President Pranab Mukherjee was all the more noticeable due to the stringent measures taken by the police to implement the law and at times exert excessive control on the citizens. Footpaths on city roads to be used by the presidential motorcade were not only given a fresh coat of tar with ditches repaired, but various types of encroachments were also removed by the police. The footpaths which have been transformed into parking spaces for two-wheelers and four wheelers appeared free of such illegally parked vehicles. However, citizens pointed out that the police did indulge in excesses like prohibiting even pedestrians to walk on the footpath or asking people viewing from the balconies to move indoors.
A day after the President left Dehradun, things have returned to ‘normal’ with the footpaths freed of encroachment being taken over once again for parking vehicles. A senior citizen resident of EC Road wanting to remain anonymous said, “It seems the police and district administration believe in implementing the law and overdoing it for a presidential visit but dont bother to even implement the law otherwise. The footpath on this road is taken up by vehicles of youth attending private tutorials leaving the pedestrians to walk on the road. I have often complained to the police and even to the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun but apart from action by the City Patrol Unit of the police on a couple of occasions, no concrete action has been taken to uphold the law and prevent the misuse of footpaths for parking vehicles,” he said.
Municipal officials state that enforcing the law is up to the police and blame lack of inter-departmental cooperation for various civic woes faced by the public. The police talk about upholding the law but when it comes to effective action for doing so, the residents of Dehraduna are yet to see any action by the police to ensure that civic facilities are used for the intended purpose.