Where does Pune stand?

With the Supreme Court’s ruling lending legal weight to pedestrian rights, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) says it is stepping up efforts to improve footpath infrastructure.

Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram told The Indian Express that the civic body has earmarked Rs 100 crore this year for construction of new footpaths and maintenance of existing ones.

Rajesh Bankar, head of PMC’s road department, said footpaths have been built along 683 km of the city’s 2,287-km road network, covering roads that are 12 metres or wider, in line with Indian Roads Congress (IRC) norms. Much of the remaining network comprises narrower roads measuring 3, 4.5 and 9 metres, where footpaths are not mandatory.

Ahead of the Grand Tour cycling tournament in January, PMC repaired 83 km of footpaths. Since then, another 15 km have either been repaired or newly constructed.

“We are now repairing footpaths along around 84 km of roads on the cycle route in preparation for the Grand Tour 2027,” Bankar said.
Special squad on footpath patrol

To improve footpath conditions, PMC has constituted a special squad comprising junior engineers from the road department, inspectors from the health, anti-encroachment and electrical departments, a police official and photographers.

The team began operations on June 1 in Vishrambaug and Kasba Peth wards.

“The squad walks the footpaths for two hours every day, identifying issues such as damaged pavements, encroachments, garbage dumping and other maintenance concerns. Survey findings are submitted to the road department, which coordinates action with the concerned departments,” Bankar said.

Rohidas Gavhane, a senior official in the road department, said minor complaints received through the PMC Care app and other platforms are being addressed at the ward level.

Bankar said a report on the first two wards is expected by June 29, with some officials currently engaged in census work.

“We will review the effectiveness of the initiative by around July 15 and plan to extend it to all 15 PMC regional offices,” he said.

Why are footpaths still broken?

Bankar acknowledged that several footpaths remain damaged but said much of the destruction is linked to utility works.

“The Centre directed expansion of the gas pipeline network, and PMC granted Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited permission to lay around 150 km of new pipelines. In areas such as Baner, where roads are narrow, pipelines had to be laid beneath footpaths, causing damage. Work by Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited has also affected footpaths in some places,” All such damaged footpaths will be repaired soon,” he added.

On whether PMC is complying with the Maharashtra government’s November 2025 directive requiring footpath complaints to be resolved within 15 days, Bankar said timelines vary depending on the nature of the work.

“These are civil works. Minor issues, such as replacing chamber covers, are resolved quickly. But repairing damaged footpaths involves removing paving blocks, rebuilding the bedding layers, sourcing matching blocks and arranging labour and materials. Sometimes repairing a footpath takes longer than constructing a new one,” he said.

Citizen complaints

Even as PMC intensifies its efforts, a recent report by Pune-based urban mobility NGO Parisar points to significant gaps in the civic body’s grievance redressal system.

Parisar reviewed PMC’s footpath grievance mechanism in February and March 2026 under its #MyWalkMyRight campaign, analysing 302 complaints filed through the PMC Care app, a WhatsApp bot and X across five wards.

Of the 302 complaints, 114 were resolved and 59 were under process, meaning 173 complaints, or about 57 per cent, entered the municipal workflow. The remaining 129 complaints (43 per cent) were either pending, rejected or had not been processed.

Despite the state government’s directive requiring complaints to be resolved within 15 days, only 23 complaints met the deadline.

The report noted that Pune recorded 120 pedestrian fatalities in the past year, underscoring the need for an efficient and transparent grievance redressal system.

Among its recommendations, Parisar called for X complaints to be converted into registered complaints with tracking numbers, photo uploads to be enabled on the WhatsApp bot, unresolved complaints to be automatically escalated after 15 days, photographic proof before complaints are closed, and monthly grievance review meetings by ward officers.