401 reasons why you are always stuck in a traffic jam

Mumbai: Here are some cold hard numbers to explain why your daily commute anywhere in the city is a never-ending nightmare. According to data obtained by HT from the Mumbai Traffic Police, there are 401 spots excavated in the city for various public infrastructure projects, as of the middle of November.

While Metro work bears the brunt of commuters’ ire, facts reveal that road work, especially concretization, is responsible for at least a third of the problem, with 135 roads dug up. Construction work for various flyovers, bridges, foot over bridges (FOB) and nullah (drain) is being carried out at 67 sites across the city. Excavation for Metro work is under way at 52 sites, followed by work on storm water drains at about 40 sites.

While citizens have time and again taken to social media to complain about traffic, especially during peak hours, an official from the traffic department said that the delay in completion of projects leads to even more jams as planning becomes a challenge. “We give NOC (No Objection Certificate) to the department for the construction with a certain deadline that the contractors have to follow. However, delay in completion of these projects leads to more jams,” said an official.

The maximum number of excavations is in the western zone of the Mumbai Traffic division, from Dahisar to Vakola. A whopping 127 sites in this zone has excavation sites and road concretization is ongoing in at least 31 locations. While Metro work is on in 16 sites, construction of sewer lines is ongoing at 27 locations and bridges and FOBs are being constructed in 24 spots.

The eastern zone of the traffic division – from Sion to Mankhurd – is next on the list, with excavation work on at 108 locations. Road concretization is again the main cause of bother, with work on at 30 locations. At 20 roads, the maximum number of excavations in the city for metro work falls in the eastern zone. Work on Metro Line2B, 3, 4 and 6 along with their stations are ongoing in the region. Another 20 roads are seeing flyover or FOB work.

The Central traffic zone, which covers Lower Parel to Kherwadi traffic station in Bandra, has 87 locations where roads are excavated. Out of these, at least 37 locations have been dug up for road concretisation work, followed by ROB, FOB, and skywalk work at 14 locations.

The South zone, which is from Colaba to Mahalaxmi, has 79 excavation spots. This is the lowest of all zones. Nearly 50% (40 locations) of these 79 locations are excavated for road work. These 40 locations also include construction of major projects like Coastal Road and the Sewri Nava-Sheva Trans harbour line. This is followed by excavation work for demolition or construction of bridges. This also includes the recently demolished Carnac Bunder Bridge.

While development work is green-lit by different authorities, it falls on the traffic department to manage the situation on the ground. Raj Tilak Roushan, deputy commissioner of police, Mumbai Traffic Police, said “We usually give NOC to the authorities because development cannot be stopped. Development is important, but the pressure falls on the traffic department when the projects are delayed. We have to ask authorities for additional support like traffic wardens whenever needed.”