As Ahmedabad heads towards the 2026 municipal elections, a major gap in its urban infrastructure has come into focus—the city remains highly unfriendly to pedestrians, with nearly 72% of its roads lacking footpaths.
Despite rapid development and heavy spending on roads, only 28% of Ahmedabad’s 2,634-km road network has proper footpaths, according to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s 2023–24 budget. This means just about 731 km of roads have pedestrian pathways, forcing most people to walk on busy streets.
The problem is more severe in newer and recently merged areas like Jodhpur, Vejalpur, Bodakdev, Thaltej, Gota, Vastral, Chandkheda, Motera, Bopal, Ghuma, and Kathwada, where roads have been built over the past decade without proper pedestrian facilities.
Officials admit that while road widening and resurfacing projects have continued, footpath construction has not kept pace, leading to broken or missing walking networks. A senior AMC official said that without building footpaths alongside roads, a proper pedestrian system cannot develop.
The issue has worsened due to repeated failures in awarding contracts. Since 2023, several tenders—including a ₹50 crore citywide project—failed due to lack of bidders or disqualification of applicants. Even after dividing the work into smaller packages, response remained weak, with limited progress only after multiple attempts.
In response to criticism, AMC has now planned to develop 200 km of pedestrian-friendly roads under its 2026–27 policy, with an estimated cost of ₹50 crore. Safety measures like installing railings between roads and footpaths are also proposed.
Additionally, larger urban projects are underway. Around ₹400 crore has been allocated to upgrade key roads like Ashram Road into ‘iconic roads’ with proper footpaths, while ₹334 crore has been approved for area-level development that includes pedestrian infrastructure. Footpaths are also being added to ongoing white-topping projects.
However, urban planners warn that unless footpaths are made a compulsory part of every road project, Ahmedabad may continue to grow as a car-focused city, putting pedestrian safety at risk.