Traffic Jams (Noella D'couza)

How well you manage in a traffic jam during the peak hours can well be a yardstick to judge your Mumbai-worthiness. Watching the seasoned veterans who have reached the Newton’s Law of Momentum-defying stage (no big deal, you say. Try getting out of a traffic jam without showing no signs of agony in relation to the feat you have just accomplished, or have not) is a lesson in survival. Every part of Mumbai has struggled to cope with the hours of  long traffic jams that cause wastage of time and fuel. The constant increase in fuel prices has affected the citizens, government, but has not decreased the traffic jam situation. The major areas of traffic are Andheri, Bandra, Malad in the suburbs and Dadar, Crawford market, and adjoining areas in South Mumbai. There are a lot of reasons that contribute to the increasing traffic situation, firstly the increasing migrant population flocking towards Mumbai in search of a better standard of living. The others being the number of private transport vehicles on the road, also the introduction of new brands of vehicles at cheaper rates and also the the availabilty of car loans at cheaper rates than that of eduational and home loans. In the last 50 years the number of vehicles on the roads of  Mumbai has increased significantly whereas, the length of the roads has seen a very miniscule amount of development. The number of rickshaws and taxis in the city of Mumbai have increased enormously since 1990’s. The traffic congestion has increased by 20% whereas the infrastructure to support this caliber of  traffic has not been put to place. Infrastructure of the city of Mumbai still does not have the capacity to support a huge number of vehicles. The government has been making efforts to create new bridges and flyovers, the most appropriate example of the government efforts is ‘the Metro’. The construction of the Metro which is supposed to be unveiled to the public in 2021, has been more of a hindrance, due to the construction and narrowing of the roads. This has caused diversion of more traffic towards Andheri station. Another example is the Bandra-Worli sea link. The Bandra-Worli sea link was constructed with intentions to curb and ease the traffic moving to and fro South Mumbai, but due to not concluding the project on time and over shooting the budget, the Bandra-Worli sea link is now open only to the elite, who can afford to pay a sum of  Rs seventy five, to go from one end to another. The already over crowded railways of  Mumbai, also known as the backbone carrying thousands and thousands to their workplace and back is trying hard to cope with the situation. 

Prakash Singh, 22, an auto-rickshaw driver in the city of Mumbai for around five years says, “The traffic situation in Mumbai is very bad. The roads are not well maintained, the traffic signals are not in proper working conditions, and the situation gets worse during monsoons. The worst affecting are Andheri, Malad where we end up in jams for hours”.

Mrs Shivani Desai, a resident of  Mumbai loves the spirit of Mumbai, but feels “ The traffic situation is not dealt with appropriately. Travelling by bus in traffic, increases my travel time by two folds, which leaves me with no option, like other Mumbaikars to travel in the over crowded trains”. The government does not take immediate steps to repair the roads. “The citizens should be part of  helping the government in the implementation process,” adds Desai.

Mr Nagesh Khanvilkar, 42, Engineer, says, “ The traffic situation has become even worse over time, it is a culmination of many problems that has led to this. A resident of Borivali, I have to travel to Andheri everyday for work. The traffic situation is so severe that a 30 minute journey is turned into a travel time of more than an hour”.

 The ways to curb the traffic situation is to increase the use of public transport and also the government making enough measures to increase the efficiency of the public transport. The frequency of the buses should be increased and the trains lines should be increased and car pooling should be adopted. In spite of all this, Traffic Jams are iconic, because they are so much a part of Mumbai’s identity. Chaotic, crazy and edgy.