July 7, 2025: What was meant to smooth Mumbai’s roads has instead roughened the daily commute for pedestrians in Santacruz West. As part of the BMC’s extensive road concreting initiative to make the city pothole-free, critical pedestrian infrastructure—especially footpaths—has been disrupted or removed altogether in several neighbourhoods.
In Town Planning Scheme No. 6, which includes Road Numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5, residents now face unsafe walking conditions due to missing or incomplete pavements. Locals say the very project that promised smoother travel has ironically made it more dangerous for those on foot.
“Before the concreting work began, there were well-maintained footpaths on both sides of the road,” said Ajit Ajgaonkar, a resident of Aradhana Building. “Now, in the name of road widening, footpaths on one side have been removed. What’s worse is that footpaths don’t run continuously, even on a single road. Sometimes they’re on the right side, the left. Are we supposed to keep crossing the road every few metres? And with poor lighting and heavy traffic in the evenings, it’s especially risky for senior citizens.”
The lack of consistent footpaths has created confusion and raised serious safety concerns, especially during peak hours and at night. Residents say the disjointed layout forces pedestrians to weave through traffic or constantly cross roads, posing risks not only to senior citizens but also to schoolchildren and daily commuters.
While road improvement was the intent, locals are now demanding that basic pedestrian infrastructure be restored, starting with continuous, well-lit footpaths on both sides of the road.
Source: Mid-day
