In Jangpura, Saket and Vasant Kunj, many sidewalks aren’t for walking

Delhi has a parking issue. The city has 1.5 crore registered vehicles, but not enough parking space, leading to the obvious casualty: pedestrian zones. 

Newslaundry visited South Delhi’s Jangpura, Saket, and Vasant Kunj – all upscale areas – and found cars invaded spaces exclusively reserved for pedestrians. At some places, residents even built sheds to shelter cars. Other places saw benches, potted plants, and extended driveways on pedestrian tracks. 

On August 1, the Supreme Court directed all states and Union Territories to frame guidelines ensuring the availability and maintenance of proper footpaths in four weeks. The case has been listed for hearing on October 6. 

While the Delhi government’s footpath guidelines are yet to be made public, the situation on the ground remains dire for pedestrians, even in the city’s most affluent areas.  

In Jangpura: Action against the poor, impunity for the rich 

According to MCD’s layout plan, there are over 800 plots in Jangpura.

During the British redesign and urban expansion of Delhi, residents of Khairpur, a village on the banks of the Yamuna River, were moved to a new colony named ‘Youngpura’, under the supervision of British officer Charles Young. Over time, ‘Youngpura’ gradually evolved into ‘Jangpura’, influenced by local pronunciation and linguistic shifts.

Before 1947, Jangpura remained relatively unremarkable. But the Partition of India marked a turning point. The area became a refuge for hundreds of displaced Hindu and Sikh families from Punjab, particularly from Rawalpindi. 

Mandir Marg, Church Road, Masjid Road, and Gurudwara Road converge here, reflecting the neighbourhood’s religious and cultural diversity. The presence of the Buddha Vihar further emphasises its inclusive character. And in the past two decades, Jangpura has become a prominent hub for Afghan refugees in Delhi. 

Today, the colony is known for housing prominent lawyers, activists and journalists. 

Jangpura had also seen one of the many demolitions of jhuggi jhopdis this year. Madrasi Camp, a JJ cluster, was situated on land owned by the Railways, where only 189 of the 370 families surveyed by DUSIB were granted rehabilitation. The fate of the remaining 182 households, housing around 900 people, was cast into uncertainty. Moreover, residents eligible for rehabilitation were given a home in Narela, at least 50 km away from their original residence. Newslaundry reported on the demolitions and their impact here and here. 

While the poor were pushed out in the name of encroachment, there was no action over the affluent in the same area encroaching on public space.

Is it a parking lot?

Newslaundry visited five blocks – A, B, C, I, G – in Jangpura Extension, including 11 lanes in these blocks, all following a pattern: Cars parked on the area designated as pedestrian zones. 

When Newslaundry visited one of the lanes of Jangpura Extension, 14 parked cars had encroached on an estimated 175 sq m of pedestrian tracks. This estimate was calculated using Indian Roads Congress standards, which list the typical dimensions of a car as 5 m in length and 2.5 m in width. 

According to IRC, for three and four-wheelers, parallel parking is preferred over angular or 90-degree parking. In parallel parking, a car is parked in line with other cars along the side of the road by carefully backing into a tight space between two vehicles. Angular or 90-degree parking means parking the car so that it is perpendicular to the curb or parking lines, where cars park nose-first into spaces. In a few lanes in Jangpura that Newslaundry visited, cars were parked in angular and 90-degree parking, taking up more space designated for pedestrian zones. 

On the road adjacent to Birbal Park, 65 m of pedestrian tracks were encroached by parked cars. This pattern is consistent throughout the entire I block, where four lanes, consisting of 19 houses, saw 250 m of encroachment due to cars parked using either parallel or 90-degree (perpendicular) parking methods.  Another lane of I block, which had six houses, 11 cars encroached upon 137 sq m of pedestrian area. 

In two lanes of block A, cars of 12 houses had encroached upon at least 144 m of the pedestrian area. One of the lanes in the block had 11 cars parked parallel, encroaching on 137 sq m of pedestrian space. In block B, cars of 18 houses had encroached upon 160 m of the pedestrian area. 

In the C block, 12 houses had at least 12 cars when Newslaundry visited, taking the total encroached area by parallelly parked cars to 150 sq m. In another lane with 16 houses, eight cars on one side of the road encroached 40 sq m of pedestrian space. The total encroached area in C block was at least 190 sq m. 

G block had cars from 11 houses parked on the adjacent pedestrian track. The situation was the same for the 10 houses on Birbal Road. 

Kavi Saxsena, secretary of Jangpura Extension Welfare Association, said, “Residents might have encroached upon these footpaths inside the colony, which sometimes also results in blockage of drains and waterlogging. We as locals are responsible for it.”  

Jangpura comes under the jurisdiction of Andrews Gunj. The local councillor Anita Baisoya said, “We try to carry out drives to remove such encroachments, but co-operation from the residents is also important. If we ever get a complaint related to this, we forward it to MCD, but the action is still lacking”. 

Tin sheds for cars in Saket

Saket, the administrative headquarters of South Delhi district, derives its name from the legendary city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. Primarily a residential area, Saket features the Press Enclave and housing blocks from A to N. These blocks include a mix of row houses, multi-storied buildings, and two-storied apartments. 

Newslaundry visited B, D, and E blocks of Saket and found tin sheds to protect parked cars constructed on the area meant for pedestrian tracks. 

In B Block, a lane over 200 m long is lined with parked cars; the same pattern repeats in E Block. Together, the two lanes, consisting of 21 houses, show 201 m of pedestrian space encroachment. Near one of the houses, belonging to a Supreme Court lawyer, the pedestrian zone has been converted into a waiting area with benches, potted plants, and parking right outside the gate. Along Pramod Mahajan Marg, footpaths reappear briefly for about 60 m, only to be blocked again by barricades and cars near D Block.

In D Block, which has 240 plots, car sheds emerge again. Though limited in number, they are noticeable. Painted green, these sheds are built beside house gates, each about 5 m long, to completely shield a car from the sun and rain. Newslaundry counted at least four such sheds across three lanes. Of the five lanes surveyed, nearly 447 m were occupied by encroachments, including parked cars, sheds, and extended driveways. Beyond vehicles themselves, even future parking is reserved – trees outside homes are marked with house numbers to designate them as private parking spots.

Meena Mehta, secretary of D block Saket RWA (61-135), said, “Inside the colony, we as residents do not face any difficulty due to a lack of footpaths; our colony is planned in such a way that roads are quite wide, so driveways or ramps are hardly seen as a problem when walking.” However, she said that many small vendors continue to encroach upon the footpaths on the roads outside the colony.  

Saket comes under Lado Sarai councillor Rajiv Sansanwal. Newslaundry has sent a questionnaire to him. This report will be updated if a comment is received. 

Pedestrians vs parked cars in Vasant Kunj

Vasant Kunj, originally farmland, was acquired by the government in the 1960s. The Delhi Development Authority developed the area into a residential colony featuring two-bedroom, three-bedroom, and duplex flats. The locality is divided into five sectors – A, B, C, D, and E – and includes approximately 18,000 houses and 250 farmhouses, with a population of around 80,000. 

Newslaundry visited pockets 3 and 4 in D block of Vasant Kunj. 

The colony has spaces earmarked for car parking. However, cars were also parked in the space that ideally should have been left vacant for pedestrians. 

Encroachment on pedestrian zones was reported across eight lanes, with lengths varying from 45 m to 145 m. One lane has 78 m of encroachment, another records 130 m, while others measure 145 m, 125 m, 115 m, 65 m, 50 m, and 45 m – totalling 753 m. In one of the lanes, 18 cars were parked, many using the perpendicular parking method. Several houses, especially the independent houses, had the car numbers mentioned on their perimeter walls to ensure nobody else parked there. 

A member of the Federation of Residents Welfare Associations, Vasant Kunj, claimed that “encroachments usually occur on roads outside the colony; within the colony, they aren’t possible”. He admitted, however, that parking inside the colony remains a major issue. 

Vasant Kunj councillor Jagmohan Mehlawat says, “In every 15 days, MCD carries out drives to clear out encroachments, and when it comes to footpaths, 90 percent of them are clear in Vasant Kunj”. He agreed that the number of cars was more, “but nobody parks on the footpath; they park in the designated spots”. 

Experts speak

Dinesh Kumar, a retired PWD officer, explained that footpaths are mandated in all colonies under the DDA Master Plan, with width depending on the road size. For roads less than 12 m wide, the plan requires a minimum 0.5-m footpath at the edge.

R Srinivas, former town and country planner with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, explained that while RWAs exist, enforcement by authorities is weak. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is responsible for ensuring that parking norms are followed, but this has not been strictly implemented, Srinivas claimed. 

“When the DDA constructed housing under its various schemes, provisions for adequate parking were not made. As a result, residents had no choice but to park their vehicles on the roads. With the rise in vehicle ownership – sometimes two or three cars per household – the problem has worsened,” he said. 

He added, “Furthermore, as buyers do not need to show proof of available parking space when purchasing a car, it leads to congestion, as almost every road in DDA colonies gets clogged with parked vehicles by evening. Similar challenges are also visible in non-DDA colonies, making parking a serious and persistent urban issue.”

The Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Places Rules, 2019, prohibit parking on footpaths and direct civic agencies to tow vehicles that are illegally parked. The rules further state, “The civic agencies shall consider developing open areas, other than designated green areas/parks, near the colonies as parking lots on a payment basis.”  

Newslaundry has reached out to Jitendra Yadav, additional commissioner of MCD South Zone, and Sumit Kumar, Director, Directorate of Press and Information, MCD, for comments. The report will be updated if they respond.

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