How should cities reclaim footpaths?
Supreme Court-backed pedestrian rights and the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 in Bengaluru’s footpath-clearance drive
- Street vending is a legitimate occupation protected under Article 19, subject to regulation in public interest.
- The Act is designed to reconcile pedestrian access with vendor livelihood through surveys, certification, and zoning.
- The Town Vending Committee must include vendors and other stakeholders and act as the statutory decision-making body for vending regulation.
What happened
Bengaluru’s civic bodies carried out a short Safe Footpath drive after the Supreme Court recognized the right to walk on safe, obstruction-free footpaths as a fundamental right. The drive removed many street vendors and cleared encroachments, and the legal question is whether those removals respected the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.
Background and earlier position
UPSC may ask how cities should reconcile the right to safe, obstruction-free footpaths with the right to livelihood of street vendors, and whether municipal action can bypass the statutory process under the Street Vendors Act, 2014.
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