Walking on a footpath is your right.
Walk one stretch of a road you use. Answer eleven plain questions. Get a result in the words the Supreme Court itself uses, and a notice ready to send to whoever owns the road. No account, no app, about fifteen minutes.
A side view of one street: footpath on top, the black-and-yellow kerb, then the road. Grey objects are what was found on it; the red figure marks where a walker had to step onto the road. Tap "To standard" to see the same stretch as IRC:103 asks for. Every answer you give on a check draws onto a strip like this.
What the court has said
"If the road exists, there is a duty to ensure that there are demarcated and well-maintained footpaths for walkers. The duty bearers are the urban development authorities, municipal corporations, municipalities and even panchayats, who must endeavour to demarcate, construct, maintain, and safeguard footpaths and other necessary pedestrian infrastructure."
Supreme Court, Maniyar Iliyaz v. P. Ayyappan, 2026 INSC 647, 19 June 2026, para 20(b). Binding law- The right to walk is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(d) with Articles 19(1)(a) to (c) and 21. It includes "the right to demarcated footpaths", and these rights "are primary and shall have priority over movement by motorised vehicles". Binding law
- The duty is enforceable. Para 10 calls it "an enforceable duty"; para 20(c) gives remedies for restitution and compensation independent of the Motor Vehicles Act. Binding law
- Footpaths in good condition are part of Article 21. "By the side of all public roads, there must be proper facility of footpaths or footways with special emphasis on user-friendly to persons with disabilities." S. Rajaseekaran v. Union of India, 14 May 2025. Binding law
- Agencies in 50 cities and NHAI were told to audit footpaths for deficiencies in width, height and surface, make crossings compliant with Indian Roads Congress guidelines, map encroachment hotspots with photographs, and open online footpath grievance systems. Rajaseekaran, 7 October 2025. Court direction
- Drivers must slow down at crossings, pedestrians have right of way at uncontrolled crossings, and no vehicle may be driven or parked on a footpath. Rules of the Road Regulations 1989, regulations 8, 11 and 15. Statutory regulation
- The case is still open as "Re: Fundamental Right to Walk and Footpath", W.P.(C) 844/2026. On 24 August 2026 every State and UT was made a party; on 5 October 2026 the Union was told to name the authority responsible for footpaths and five pilot towns.
What a footpath should be
The Indian Roads Congress code IRC:103 is the yardstick the Court named. It is engineering guidance, binding only where a city has adopted it. Gurugram has adopted no street standard of its own, so this check reports the 2012 edition as the floor and the 2022 revision as the current standard. Standard
| What | IRC:103-2012 | IRC:103-2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Clear walking zone | 1.8 m | 2.0 m; 2.5 m near schools, hospitals, markets and bus stops; 4.0 m on city commercial streets |
| Kerb height | 150 mm at most | 150 mm at most |
| Across gates and side lanes | Continuous between junctions | Vehicle ramps within the footpath no longer than 3.5 m |
| Kerb ramps at crossings | 1:12, at least 1.2 m wide, tactile tiles | 1:15 |
| Crossings | Every 80 to 250 m | Every 80 to 150 m; raised tables at unsignalised crossings; refuge of 1.2 m where the road is wider than 10.5 m |
| Where a footpath is required | Collector roads and above | Every street where traffic moves faster than 15 km/h |
| Lighting | 25 to 40 lux | 25 to 30 lux |
The 2022 figures are read from the IRC draft hosted by NITI Aayog; the published code is paywalled. The 2 m walking zone is independently confirmed.
Who must provide it here
The agency that owns the road maintains the footpath. In Gurugram that is at least six bodies, and no public map says which road is whose. The check asks you to pick the likely owner; "not sure" goes to GMDA and the Chief Minister's Window, which forward it.
- GMDA: master sector-dividing roads and their service roads.
- MCG: internal roads in HSVP sectors transferred in 2017, and nine private colonies taken over in 2022.
- HSVP: sectors not yet transferred.
- DTCP and the coloniser: inside DLF, Sushant Lok, South City, Palam Vihar and other licensed colonies until transfer.
- NHAI: NH-48 and NH-248A (Sohna Road) and their service lanes.
- PWD (B&R): state roads.
How a check works
- Where. Take your location with one tap (or name the road), pick which footpath, and for a full check answer four questions about the road. A quick check is one spot and two minutes; a full stretch is 500 m and fifteen.
- Walk. One gate question (can you walk 100 m without stepping onto the road), ten yes/no items with a photo each, and one question only you can answer. Your stretch draws itself at the top as you go.
- Result. A score out of 100 at the weakest point of the stretch, one of three bands, your street as found and to standard, and the three heaviest things to ask for. Weights are printed; this is method v1.0.
- Notice. A ready letter to the owning agency quoting the Court, with a reply-by date 21 days out. You copy it and send it through the agency's own channel. This page never files anything for you.
- Record. If you choose, the check joins the public Gurugram record: a moderator reads it, then it appears on the map, in the report and in the open dataset. The record is the evidence; the Supreme Court's open case on the right to walk is where it is headed.
What this check cannot say
- That "the Supreme Court ordered every road to have an X-metre footpath by a date". No such order exists. Cannot say
- That "there is a Right to Walk Act". There is none; the right is a constitutional declaration. Cannot say
- That NHAI, PWD or a private developer "must build footpaths under Maniyar". The judgment names development authorities, municipal bodies and panchayats; for highways the stronger hook is the Rajaseekaran directions, to which NHAI is a party. Cannot say
- This is not an encroachment reporter. A failure is the road owner's failure to provide, demarcate or maintain, not a person to be removed. Vending has its own law (Street Vendors Act 2014) and belongs in a designed vending zone.