Canadian vlogger’s video prods civic authorities into action

Bengaluru: A viral video recorded by a Canadian vlogger, highlighting the “neglected and poor condition” of pavements in the city, has prompted a swift response from the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), which joined a cleaning drive organised by an NGO.

In the 30-minute video shot on Thursday, Youtuber Caleb Friesen documented the difficulty in walking a 2.4 km stretch on Bengaluru’s pedestrian paths, from Majestic bus stand to a coffee shop, capturing its alleged poor and neglected condition.

The clip drew widespread public criticism against the civic authorities for the alleged negligence. In the aftermath of the viral clip, the civic authorities, GBA jumped into swift action to repair the stretch.

Along with private volunteers, they organised a footpath-cleaning drive. To show support and motivate the team, Bengaluru Central City Commissioner Rajendra Cholan joined the volunteers on Saturday and shared snacks with them after the restoration work.

On September 12, the Greater Bengaluru Authority took to ‘X’, sharing pictures of intensive cleaning drive in and around Majestic surroundings. “Intensive cleaning drive was carried out around Majestic surroundings by Bengaluru central city corporation team focusing on the footpaths to ensure a clean and safe pedestrian space,” it said in a post on ‘X’.

Responding to the post, Friesen thanked the authorities for taking rapid action and shared the before and after pictures of the same footpath he had shot earlier. “Thank you for listening and taking rapid action @GBAoffic no more parkour over barbed wire required by pedestrians,” he added.

According to official sources, At the very spot where the foreign national had earlier shot the video allegedly complaining about the poor state of footpaths, after participating in the cleaning and painting drive organised by an NGO on Saturday, Bengaluru Central City Commissioner, Cholan sat down and ate snacks along with the volunteers who helped restore the footpath and motivated the team.

The Canadian man who highlighted the state of the footpath was also invited to the spot, where he recorded another clip praising the authorities for the swift action in undertaking the initiative to clean and clear the footpath, making it feasible for pedestrians to use.

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The Hans India