Nagpur: Nearly one in every three people killed in road accidents in Nagpur is a pedestrian, with experts stating that not all, but a majority of these deaths can be directly attributed to absence of footpaths forcing citizens to walk on the roads. Traffic police data shows that 198 pedestrians lost their lives in road accidents in the last two years, accounting for a significant share of fatalities — 110 out of 353 deaths in 2024 and 88 out of 259 in 2025.The numbers highlight the severity of the situation. Out of the 110 pedestrians killed in 2024, 33 were run over by unidentified vehicles, 16 by trucks, 20 by cars, and 23 by two-wheelers. In 2025, 25 pedestrians were killed by cars, 22 by two-wheelers, 16 by trucks, while 17 were run over by unidentified vehicles.Traffic experts point out that the absence of continuous, obstruction-free footpaths significantly increases the risk for pedestrians. A senior traffic official admitted that enforcement challenges and political pressure often hamper efforts to reclaim pedestrian spaces. “Primarily, it is the job of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to remove encroachments from the footpaths. We regularly help NMC in carrying out such drives but our focus is on clearing encroachments only from roads. Earlier, we faced political interference in clearing the footpaths. These drives need a lot of manpower and time, affecting other work as well,” the official told TOI.Unless footpaths are reclaimed and protected for pedestrians, experts warn that the city’s most vulnerable road users will continue to pay the ultimate price for simply walking.
