WHO OWNS THE FOOTPATH?

 A clear legal position on illegal pavement encroachment in Delhi

crparkspeaks@gmail.com 

Delhi’s footpaths are public pedestrian infrastructure, not private extensions of shops. Street vending is recognised as a livelihood, but it is regulated by designated vending zones, allotted spaces and conditions designed to protect pedestrian movement. The law does not give a shopkeeper or vendor an unrestricted right to occupy a public footpath.

1. The 6 ft × 4 ft rule is a vending-space standard—not ownership of the pavement

Under the Delhi Street Vendors Scheme, 2019, a space of 6 ft × 4 ft is considered for one static/mobile/temporary/night-bazaar vendor. The Scheme also requires vending zones and their capacity to be determined through the prescribed planning/Town Vending Committee process. (UDD Delhi)

Therefore, a vendor cannot interpret the 6 × 4 ft provision as permission to spread goods, racks, tables, refrigerators, counters, tarpaulins or other structures beyond the authorised vending area.

2. Pedestrian movement has priority on a footpath

The same Scheme specifically requires that a public-street vending zone have sufficient pedestrian/vehicular movement. The question of vending on footpaths and pedestrian movement is to be decided according to law by the respective Town Vending Committee. (UDD Delhi)

In other words, a vending right cannot be exercised in a manner that destroys the very pedestrian passage for which the footpath exists.

3. MCD Act specifically prohibits obstruction of streets

This is particularly important for MCD areas.

Section 320 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 provides that, without the Commissioner's permission, no person may erect or place a wall, fence, rail, post, step, booth or other fixed/movable/temporary structure or fixture in or upon a street so as to cause an obstruction, encroachment or occupation of any portion of the street. (MCD Online)

Therefore, a shopkeeper putting merchandise, counters, racks, steps, structures or other fixtures onto a public pavement may fall within the scope of the statutory prohibition.

4. The Master Plan requires a continuous, unobstructed footpath

The Master Plan for Delhi 2021 is particularly clear on pedestrian infrastructure.

It provides that streets with ROW greater than 12 m should have a continuous unobstructed footpath, with a minimum width of 1.8 metres, in addition to space required for trees/greenery, vending and utilities. It also says the footpath should be made wider than 1.8 m wherever pedestrian volume requires it. (Delhi Development Authority)

This is an important distinction:

Vending space and pedestrian space are not the same thing.

The planning standard specifically contemplates pedestrian space in addition to vending space.

5. A 6-ft pavement creates a very serious problem

Six feet is approximately 1.83 metres.

Therefore, if the entire pavement is only 6 ft wide, occupying 4 ft for a stall would leave only 2 ft (about 61 cm) for pedestrians.

That cannot reasonably be described as a continuous, unobstructed pedestrian footpath.

The relevant question should therefore be:

“After the authorised vending area is excluded, how much genuinely unobstructed pavement remains for pedestrians?”

—not simply:

“Is the vendor's stall within 6 × 4 ft?”

6. PWD roads are not a free zone for encroachment

PWD jurisdiction does not convert a public footpath into private commercial space.

Indeed, Delhi government/MCD planning documentation concerning PWD-jurisdiction main roads specifically identifies the objective that footpaths should be continuous and encroachment-free and illustrates encroached footpaths as a pedestrian problem. (MCD Online)

Therefore, where a PWD footpath is being obstructed, the relevant road-owning/maintaining authority and the appropriate municipal/enforcement authorities can be approached rather than treating the obstruction as a private commercial right.

7. A shop cannot extend its business onto public land

A particularly common situation in Delhi is:

Shop → merchandise outside shop → racks → refrigerator → counter → pavement → pedestrians forced onto the road.

This should not be confused with legitimate street vending.

A shopkeeper's commercial premises do not automatically include the public footpath outside the shop.

The public pavement remains intended for public passage unless a lawful permission/allocation specifically provides otherwise.

8. Lawful vending and illegal encroachment must not be confused

This is an important point because street vendors have statutory protections.

The argument should not be:

“Remove all street vendors.”

The legally stronger argument is:

“Protect lawful vending while removing unauthorised occupation beyond the permitted vending space and all obstruction of pedestrian movement.”

A person holding a valid Certificate of Vending and operating within a designated vending zone is in a very different legal position from a shopkeeper or vendor who simply occupies an unmarked pavement.

9. Public footpaths cannot become private extensions

Delhi's Master Plan itself recognises the need for active enforcement to protect footpaths from encroachment. (Delhi Development Authority)

This means that enforcement is not merely about aesthetics.

Footpath encroachment affects:

• pedestrian safety;
• elderly and disabled persons;
• children;
• wheelchair users;
• people carrying luggage;
• access to public transport;
• emergency movement;
• road safety.

When pedestrians are forced onto the carriageway because a pavement has been occupied, the issue becomes one of public safety, not merely inconvenience.

10. The basic principle

The legal and planning framework can therefore be reduced to one simple principle:

A vending permission is permission to vend within the authorised vending arrangement; it is not permission to privatise the public footpath.

And where a pavement is only 6 ft wide, the authority should measure the actual clear pedestrian passage remaining after all stalls, merchandise, structures, poles, trees and other obstructions are excluded.

The bottom line

MCD: Section 320 of the DMC Act prohibits unauthorised structures/fixtures that obstruct, encroach upon or occupy a portion of a street. (MCD Online)

Street Vendors Scheme: A 6 × 4 ft vending space is a prescribed consideration for a vendor; it does not authorise unlimited extension beyond the designated vending area and must coexist with sufficient pedestrian movement. (UDD Delhi)

PWD: PWD-maintained footpaths remain public pedestrian infrastructure; Delhi's own planning documentation identifies the objective of making such footpaths continuous and encroachment-free. (MCD Online)

Delhi Master Plan: A 1.8-metre continuous unobstructed footpath is prescribed for the specified streets, with vending/utility/greenery requirements considered separately. (Delhi Development Authority)

Therefore: No vendor or shopkeeper should be allowed to convert a narrow public footpath into a private commercial extension at the cost of pedestrian safety and access.

Legal note: The exact enforceable requirement depends on the road's ROW, land-owning agency, notified vending zone, applicable TVC decision and site-specific permissions. The 1.8-metre MPD provision should not be represented as an identical rule for every footpath in Delhi.