HC bars GIDA from installing kiosks on Queen’s Walkway

The Kerala High Court has barred GIDA from installing or operating kiosks on Queen’s Walkway in Kochi, observing that kiosks and hawkers on footpaths encroach on pedestrian space and force pedestrians onto roads, putting their lives at risk.

A Bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas held that the question of permitting kiosks ought to have been considered at the time of designing the walkway by earmarking specific areas or decks beyond the pedestrian path. Even at the time of selling the adjacent land, GIDA had not found it necessary to provide space for kiosks. It was only as an afterthought that the authority permitted the construction of kiosks by reducing the width of the walkway, the court observed.

The order came on a petition filed by the Tritvam Apartment Owners’ Association and its president, who contended that the Goshree Islands Development Authority (GIDA)’s decision to add 20 more kiosks along Queen’s Walkway would alter the residential character of the area, overburden civic infrastructure and aggravate traffic congestion.

The court noted that the Goshree-Chathiyath Road, where the walkway is located, does not fall within a vending zone. The road therefore comes under a prohibited zone under the Street Vending Act, and no street vendors, including kiosks, can be permitted on the footpath. Observing that the right to life and personal liberty includes the right to walk freely without obstruction, the court held that footpaths cannot be used for commercial kiosks. Such kiosks on Queen’s Walkway would impede unobstructed access and thereby affect the fundamental rights of pedestrians, it said.