# SC orders Centre to pick 5 cities for footpath pilot project

2026-10-06T01:42:44+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 3 independent outlets

The Supreme Court on Monday, 5 October 2026, directed the Centre to identify five cities for a pilot project to ensure properly demarcated and encroachment-free footpaths wherever there is a road. A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe also asked the Centre to name a centralised authority responsible for implementing the directions, one with adequate funds, staff and infrastructure. The court posted the matter for hearing after three weeks. The directions follow a June 19 verdict that declared the right to walk on a demarcated footpath a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(d) read with Article 21, and held that every road carries a duty to provide footpaths. Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj said he would report back on the identification of cities and the authority.

## Indian Opinion Analysis

All three outlets, Orissa Post, Times Now and LiveLaw, carried near-identical wire copy of the Supreme Court's 5 October hearing, with no editorial framing beyond straight reporting of the bench's directions. Orissa Post led with the five-city pilot, LiveLaw gave equal weight to the demand for a centralised authority. None omitted or editorialised the court's June 19 declaration that the right to walk is a fundamental right. The coverage is uniform, leaving no divergence to analyse. The practical next step is the Centre's reply on the authority and city list due in three weeks.

## Coverage

Coverage: 3 sources, 3 neutral
- orissapost.com (neutral report) <https://www.orissapost.com/identify-five-cities-for-pilot-project-on-ensuring-every-road-has-footpath-sc-to-centre/>
  Straight wire report, no slant
- timesnownews.com (neutral report) <https://www.timesnownews.com/india/right-to-walk-is-fundamental-sc-asks-centre-to-pick-5-cities-for-footpath-pilot-project-article-156280354>
  PTI wire copy, neutral framing
- livelaw.in (neutral report) <https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/identify-authority-which-will-ensure-every-road-has-footpaths-supreme-court-to-centre-553157>
  Detailed court order report, no slant

This brief was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry.

Tags: Alok Aradhe, Footpath, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, P.S. Narasimha, right to walk, Supreme Court
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Cite: https://indianopinion.org/sc-orders-centre-to-pick-5-cities-for-footpath-pilot-project/#story-in-brief

How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/