The Right To Walk Marks A Turning Point For Public Space, Health
By Manu Shrivastava
For millions of commuters across urban India, step one of any journey is often a game of survival. Uneven pavers, open utility pits, illegally parked vehicles, unauthorised barricades, and hawker stalls regularly squeeze pedestrians off elevated pavements and directly onto congested, high-speed roads. What has long been dismissed as an inevitable inconvenience of rapid urbanisation is now at the centre of a judicial and public health reckoning.
In a 2026 judgement (Maniyar Iliyaz @ Shaik Riyaz v. P. Ayyappan), the Supreme Court of India declared that the Right To Walk on safe, demarcated footpaths is a fundamental constitutional right rooted in Article 19(1)(d) (freedom of movement) and Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty).
Following the incident, in which a five-year-old child was killed in a road accident after a tanker struck the boy, the apex court underscored that pedestrian rights take clear precedence over motorised traffic and placed an enforceable duty on municipal bodies to maintain accessible, unencroached walkways.
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| The Taj Mahal Palace in Colaba enroached upon public space after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks (File pic: DraftCraft) |
The Supreme Court’s recognition aligns with nearly two decades of grassroots legal and media advocacy spearheaded by self-financed think tank DraftCraft International through its Right To Walk campaign and Public Space Project, initiated by editor-solicitor Gajanan Khergamker.
A landmark chapter in this advocacy unfolded in South Mumbai's historic Colaba district. In the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, security bollards, private barricades, and extended enclosures around high-profile landmarks, most notably the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, effectively cordoned off key public pedestrian zones around the Gateway of India zone.
While security measures were necessary immediately after the crisis, the long-term privatisation and permanent encroachment of public footpaths severely restricted public access for years.
DraftCraft International’s systematic investigation exposed how security pretexts had transformed public thoroughfares into restricted private zones.
By documenting these violations and pursuing official administrative and legal channels, the campaign helped secure official action, penalty assessments, and the eventual restoration of public access along crucial affected corridors. Beyond traffic statistics, the absence of safe footpaths inflicts a quiet, compounding toll on physical health and personal autonomy.
Senior physiotherapist Swati Sanghvi, Head of the Advanced Physiotherapy & Sports Rehabilitation Department at Mumbai’s Saifee Hospital, emphasises that urban footpaths are essential health infrastructure rather than mere concrete slabs.
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| Senior physiotherapist Swati Sanghvi speaks on the risks posed by uneven footpaths |
“When a city denies its citizens flat, uninterrupted walking surfaces, it actively destabilises biomechanics,” explains Sanghvi. “Uneven terrain and broken pavements force people to take shorter, unnatural strides, placing excessive stress on knee joints, ankles, and the spine.”
“An elderly patient who had a fall on a pavement owing to stepping on a broken paver had to undertake a surgery and then an excruciatingly long rehabilitation before he could walk again. However, he was so traumatised that for months on end, even after recovering fully, he was gripped with fear each time he stepped outdoors and could do so only with help,” she recalled.
For vulnerable demographics, particularly senior citizens, pregnant women, and persons with disabilities, hostile walking environments lead to physical isolation and loss of independence:
Increased Fall Risk - Broken tiles and unannounced curb drops account for a high proportion of orthopaedic injuries and hip fractures among older adults.
Gait Deterioration - Fearing trips, pedestrians adapt by shuffling or constantly looking downward, altering posture and compromising spatial balance.
Sedentary Shift - When walking outside feels unsafe, individuals reduce everyday physical activity, raising risk factors for cardiovascular conditions, metabolic disorders, and joint stiffness.
Erosion of Dignity - The necessity to navigate raw vehicular traffic or scramble over high barriers strips citizens of their basic right to move independently through their own neighbourhood.
For Smita Raje, a retired government officer who uses mobility aids, stepping out onto the public roads of Mumbai is less a routine errand and more an arduous trial of endurance. Decades of administrative service have given her a sharp eye for civic architecture, making the absolute apathy of local municipal authorities all the more glaring each time she leaves her doorstep.
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| Smita Raje highlights the civic authorities' apathy towards the differently-abled when it comes to public spaces |
What ought to be a dignified commute for a veteran public servant becomes a dangerous, humiliating ordeal - a stark reminder of how urban indifference systematically disenfranchises residents with disabilities.
India’s road safety legislation has historically viewed the street through the windshield. The Supreme Court has now highlighted that the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 had fundamentally prioritised the automobile, treating the human walker as an incidental presence.
Between 2015 and 2024, pedestrian fatalities in India reportedly surged by nearly 163 per cent, with pedestrian deaths expanding to over 20 per cent of all road fatalities. With the recent judgement, all of that is set to change … for the better.
By establishing that municipal authorities, from Urban Development Bodies down to Gram Panchayats, owe an enforceable legal duty to build and preserve footpaths, the judiciary has provided citizens with the legal leverage needed to demand walkable streets.
For 68-year-old Govindrao, even a brief walk down a neighbourhood lane requires calculated precision and constant vigilance. Leaning heavily on his four-point aluminum walker, his greatest enemy isn't his aging joints, but the footpaths themselves - peppered with loose, cracked paver blocks that tip and shift unexpectedly underfoot that get worse during the monsoons.
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| It's perhaps the elderly who suffer the most due to bad footpaths and roads |
The structural hazards are compounded by a complete lack of pedestrian discipline, as rushed commuters aggressively weave around him, jostling his frame and leaving him braced against the constant fear of a catastrophic fall. Surrounded by broken infrastructure and reckless foot traffic, Govindrao’s simple effort to stay mobile and independent is transformed into a daily nerve-wracking gamble.
Govindrao hasn’t suffered a fall as yet or been traumatised like Swati’s elderly patient. Sadly, it’s only a matter of time before he does.
A city that is walkable is inherently safer, healthier, and more democratic. Ensuring that every citizen, regardless of age or physical ability, can walk safely from their doorstep to their destination is no longer just an urban planning preference; it is now a constitutional obligation.
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