India, April 6 -- The irony is hard to miss. While municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani admitted to a low walkability quotient in Mumbai's suburbs on Friday, pointing to poor and missing footpaths, Bandra residents were fiercely defending their pavements from being 'invaded' by the municipality.

On Friday, residents attempted to stop the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from erecting guard rails on the edges of footpaths along Perry Road, a suburban arterial road that connects S V Road to Carter Road.

Erecting four-foot-high guard rails along the narrow pavement would restrict access to it and create a sense of claustrophobia, they pointed out. Since the railings would keep pedestrians hemmed in, the railings would also make t...