One of the most pressing urban problems emerging in recent years is the alarming shortage of safe, proper footpaths for pedestrians in Indian cities. Nowhere is this more discernible than in Mumbai, which has recorded the highest number of road accidents in Maharashtra. According to a city traffic police report, hit-and-run cases rose by 38% in 2023 alone- and disturbingly, 54% of the victims were pedestrians. In a rush to build roads, bridges, and flyovers, our cities have neglected their most frequent commuters; the pedestrians. While the majority of Indians walk for their daily commutes, pavements are often broken, encroached upon, or missing altogether. The result is a cityscape where walking is neither safe nor dignified.
Take, for example, Chembur’s Peston Sagar area, where rampant encroachment by illegal businesses has left citizens with no choice but to walk on the roads, risking life and limb. Similarly, in Bandra West, the frustration of residents on St Anne’s Road boiled over in March 2025 after repeated and unnecessary digging and relaying of footpaths. The pavement was first dug up in October 2024 for storm water drain work, though the area rarely experiences flooding and was later re-laid, only to be excavated again to adjust to new road levels. This ongoing pattern reflects a serious gap in civic planning and coordination.
A fundamental question arises from this pattern of development: do urban infrastructure plans assume that every citizen owns a vehicle? The continuous construction of flyovers and road expansions largely serves private cars, fuelling congestion and pollution while marginalising those who walk. In a city where a common man do not drive, this car-centric approach is exclusionary and short-sighted.
Footpaths are not a luxury – they are the foundation of urban inclusiveness. They offer safety, accessibility, and dignity to a city’s most vulnerable commuters: the elderly, children, the differently-able, and those who cannot afford private transport. Yet, Mumbai’s relentless rush for concrete has left its pedestrian population fending for themselves.
If Mumbai truly wants to be a global, people-first city, it must prioritise continuous, wide, and obstruction-free footpaths — clearly separated from traffic and supported by thoughtful, integrated street infrastructure. The future of urban mobility lies in designing cities for people, not just vehicles.
The urgency is evident. In May 2025, residents of Thakur Village in Kandivli East petitioned MP Piyush Goyal about illegal hawkers occupying roads, despite Supreme Court directives banning hawking in the area. While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) initiated clean-up operations, hawkers quickly relocated to nearby lanes, rendering the effort ineffective. This highlights the need for a more sustainable, balanced approach.
What can be done? In areas where illegal businesses and hawkers have overtaken pedestrian space, the government must clearly demarcate legal vending zones. A well-implemented street vendor policy, under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, can help balance pedestrian rights and livelihoods by allocating designated vending areas away from narrow internal roads and footpaths.
Another key issue is the chronic mismanagement and lack of coordination among civic bodies. The recurring digging of footpaths, like on St Anne’s Road, is a clear indication of poor inter-departmental communication. To address this, Mumbai needs a digital utility mapping and coordination system that allows all agencies to plan repairs collaboratively, avoiding duplicated or conflicting work. Additionally, the city must adopt pedestrian-first urban design principles – such as the “Complete Streets” guidelines – ensuring wide, continuous, and obstruction-free footpaths are a core feature of any road infrastructure project, not an afterthought.
For too long, mobility in Mumbai has been associated with the speed of cars. But true urban progress is measured by how safely, easily, and dignifiedly people can walk through their city. A city that does not protect its pedestrians has no right to call itself inclusive. Hence, it’s time to stop treating footpaths as leftover spaces and recognise them as a vital part of a humane, people-centric Mumbai.
