For residents of Santacruz, losing a footpath has become an all-too-familiar story. What was once a convenient walking stretch for hundreds of pedestrians is now a dug-up mess of debris, cables, and open drains.

This time, another pavement in the heart of the suburb has been torn apart, allegedly to facilitate civic work. And while officials and contractors have promised to rebuild it once the work concludes, residents say they have little faith left in these assurances. “Every time they break something, they say it’s temporary. But we have seen how long ‘temporary’ lasts in Mumbai,” said Ajit Ajgaonkar, who uses the same road daily.