Despite heavy daily footfall, pedestrian infrastructure remains inadequate
Gurgaon: Every evening after leaving work in Udyog Vihar Phase 3, 26-year-old Nishi Mathur begins what should be a short walk to the main road to find an auto home.Instead, it turns into a stressful stretch through moving traffic, with no dedicated space for pedestrians.
In the absence of a continuous footpath, she walks along the road edge, navigating narrow shoulders, unpaved patches and ramps.Two-wheelers often use these edges to bypass traffic, sometimes brushing past her. Even a 400-500 metre walk to the main road becomes a daily exercise in caution.She is far from alone. Thousands of employees in Udyog Vihar — one of the city’s largest industrial and office hubs — face the same ordeal every day.“There is no proper space to walk. I have to move between cars, bikes and rickshaws. Sometimes I use the edge of the road or an unpaved patch, but even bikes come there. You keep dodging vehicles just to cross 400-500 metres to reach the main road,” she said.Despite heavy daily footfall, pedestrian infrastructure remains inadequate, forcing people to share road space with fast-moving traffic. For a hub that houses nearly 2,500 factories and offices, Udyog Vihar continues to be designed largely for vehicles, with little consideration for those on foot.
Most stretches lack dedicated pedestrian facilities. Where footpaths exist, they are often encroached by vendors, blocked by parked vehicles or left in poor condition.In several areas, even road edges that could have served as walking space have been taken over for parking by employees of nearby factories and offices.The problem becomes more pronounced during peak hours, when office dispersal coincides with heavy traffic movement.“The situation worsens during the monsoon. Waterlogging and potholes leave no safe edge to walk on. Both vehicles and pedestrians are left struggling for space,” said Arjun Lal, an IT professional working in Udyog Vihar Phase 4.The lack of pedestrian infrastructure is not only affecting those on foot but also slowing traffic movement. With no clear segregation, vehicles frequently halt or slow down to avoid pedestrians walking on the carriageway, adding to congestion.Even during the day, particularly in the afternoon, large numbers of people can be seen walking along roads during lunch breaks, highlighting the constant demand for safe walking spaces.“The issue is both road conditions and encroachments. Footpaths, where they exist, are either occupied or poorly maintained, and in many places, they don’t exist at all. There is a need to build proper sidewalks, keep them free of encroachments, and create designated vending spaces so that both pedestrians and vehicles can move smoothly,” said Praveen Yadav, president of the Gurgaon Udyog Association.Experts point out that the lack of pedestrian space in Udyog Vihar is closely linked to unregulated on-street parking and outdated infrastructure planning.“Most internal roads in Udyog Vihar are narrow and were never designed to handle the current volume of traffic and footfall. The biggest issue is that footpaths and road edges have effectively turned into parking spaces because industries and offices have not provided adequate parking within their premises.
This is an old industrial area, and buildings need retrofitting to create in-house parking solutions. Unless on-street parking is strictly removed, pedestrian infrastructure cannot improve.“At the same time, footpaths need to be redeveloped with proper planning, ensuring they remain obstruction-free and integrated with drainage and other services. Without coordinated planning and changes in building norms, simply constructing footpaths will not solve the problem,” said Sarika Panda Bhatt, founder of Raahgiri Foundation.According to HSIIDC, on-street parking in Udyog Vihar is not permitted, and there is no system that allows individuals or offices to use road space for parking on their own. Only designated parking areas are permitted through a formal process with applicable charges.Despite this, vehicles are routinely parked along roadsides and on footpaths, especially in internal lanes, reducing already limited space.“On-street parking is not formally allowed, but unauthorised parking continues in many stretches, including on footpaths and road edges. Enforcement is carried out by the traffic police, who issue challans and take action when violations are found. But given the nature of the area and the high demand for parking, the problem persists,” an HSIIDC senior official said, adding that efforts are being made to address the issue and that footpaths are being constructed based on demand and priority to improve pedestrian safety.
