One of the most common things Indians praise when they go to western countries, Japan, or even China, is the availability of open spaces and walkways. The people carry out activities of various kinds, including walking and jogging, without fear of getting run over. This is without a doubt the epitome of urban development. Unfortunately, in India, something like this exists to some extent only in gated communities. The common folk have to make do in most cities by risking their lives even if they need to walk down to the neighbourhood store to buy groceries. This highlights a major shortcoming in urban development planning and management.
The Supreme Court has recently reiterated that pedestrian rights override the privilege of motorised vehicles, placing a legal duty on civic authorities to build and maintain safe walkways. Core Pedestrian Rights include Priority over Motorists – pedestrians are not secondary to vehicular traffic; their right to safe passage on footpaths takes absolute precedence. Walkers have the right to continuous, safe, and clean spaces without blockages, making municipal bodies accountable for clearing encroachments. Footpaths must be designed inclusively. They are legally mandated to be accessible and usable for the elderly, children, and persons with disabilities. Pedestrians also have the right to designated, safe crossing zones (zebra crossings, pedestrian overpasses) where drivers are required to yield or stop. If a road exists, the State has an enforceable duty to provide and maintain a footpath for walkers.
Despite robust legal recognition, pedestrians frequently face life-threatening conditions due to missing footpaths, vehicle encroachments, illegal vendor setups, and poor lighting. While the Supreme Court has established the constitutional mandate for state-level pedestrian guidelines, localised enforcement remains the biggest hurdle.
It is true that, in a country where even the basic regulations are not enforced in building design and construction, which require mandatory clearance from the authorities, leading to frequent fire incidents and deaths, the interests of pedestrians are a quite low priority. The problem is not just that of lack of inclusion of this ‘luxury’ when roads are planned and constructed, there is also the issue of clashing interests. Where there is a walkway available, there are a large number of people – shopkeepers, vendors, squatters, vehicle parkers – who take over the space. Even when anti-encroachment drives do take place, the space is occupied again the very next day. As many of the vendors, etc., are relatively poor people, it poses a moral dilemma regarding whose immediate interests are more important. However, better planning and innovative measures can solve these problems – it needs only the will to do so.
