The city that never speeds

The adage affixed to Mumbai is that of ‘a city that never sleeps’ -- an affirmation of its vibrancy and ability to always be on the move. Today, the Mumbaikar is living this reality in a topsy-turvy version. At the end of the day, commuters into the suburbs perforce stay awake, thanks to the bumper-to-bumper late night traffic on the highways.

The ongoing infrastructure projects are the reason for this eventuality. Heavy girders and pillars for metro work are carried from construction sites late into the night to be brought on location. The roads below the sites are shut down to avoid accidents.

In January, the Mumbai Traffic Police announced that the Eastern Freeway will be closed for both south- and north-bound traffic during the night as a result of ongoing work on the Eastern Freeway and Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) Project-1, from midnight to 5 am, for 59 days in patches between January 17 and May 30. As a result of this, commuters have been experiencing traffic jams.

On April 18, travellers faced traffic jam on the Western Express Highway (WEH) towards Dahisar as girders for Metro 7 were being moved to Rawalpada, in Dahisar East.

Thirty-two-year-old Zuber Shaikh experiences this often. The video production specialist travels from his workplace in Andheri to Mira Road, where he lives, every day. “On days when I have to work late and choose to travel by 2 or 3 am, I inevitably get stuck in traffic till after 4am. This happens as roads are narrowed to make room for huge trucks carrying material for metro construction. This traffic jam sometimes is as bad as daytime traffic,” said Shaikh.

“The MMRDA authorities inform us about moving and installing heavy parts just a few hours before schedule, following which we post bandobast; however, due to lack of manpower we are able to post only three to four constables at a spot which is not enough,” said Sanjay Lad, senior police inspector of Dahisar traffic chowkie. Mishaps such as fire or festive occasions when processions are taken out, add to the clog, he added.

Joint commissioner of police (traffic), Pravin Padwal, added, “When traffic jams are reported on main roads, we open the side roads. Let us assume, if there is a jam on the north bound carriage way of the WEH, to ease the flow we open one lane of the south bound carriage way and divert the traffic.”

Despite sending a questionnaire to the spokesperson for MMRDA to throw light on the issue, HT did not get any response from the body.

Traffic woes in Thane have worsened since last month after the closure of the Mumbra bypass at one end and the Saket-Kharegaon on the other. This has inconvenienced commuters connecting Kalyan-Bhiwandi- Thane-Mumbai-Navi Mumbai-Nashik.

The Thane traffic police has a simple solution: avoid taking the road in the night for at least a month.

Achuthankutty ET, 52, faced a challenge recently while travelling from Mumbai airport to Kalyan, where he resides. A 90-minute journey turned into a three-hour crawl, thanks to the night-time snarl, with his cab being stuck at Ghodbunder Road, Thane, and Bhiwandi bypass.

“The taxi fare shot up and it was a waste of our time as well. I should have been home by 12:30 am but reached only after 2am. The movement of heavy vehicles has to be blamed for this,” said Achuthankutty.

It is commonly seen, heavy vehicles take up all the open lanes leaving a compromised driving space for others.

“There is no specific schedule for heavy vehicles passing through Thane. They can be seen at anytime and everywhere across the Thane - Bhiwandi route. Proper traffic management must be introduced at all times,” said Harish Shinde, 32, who commutes to Mumbai from Bhiwandi via Thane every day for work.

The Thane traffic police has said that the next 25-30 days will be challenging for both the traffic department and commuters. It has promised more manpower on the road in the late hours to manage traffic.

“Earlier, heavy vehicles entering the city from Gujarat were also allowed to move between 12 noon-4 pm so that they don’t cause traffic snarls in the night. However, now with the work going on at both the ends, the daytime schedule has been suspended, and they run between 11 pm to 6 am. This causes congestion. This will continue for another month. We are hoping that the infra work will be done before the monsoons, to smoothen the flow,” said Vinay Rathod, deputy commissioner of traffic police.

Although Rathod said the department has deputed many constables and wardens to divert traffic, none are visible to commuters who brave the night-time travel.

A Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) officer requesting anonymity, said, “It is important to finish the work on Mumbra bypass and Saket-Kharegaon before monsoon. We are working hard to meet the deadline.”