New temporary traffic diversions at BKC from today

Mumbai: Mumbaiites commuting to the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) for work today will be greeted by new temporary traffic diversions set up by the Mumbai traffic police to ease congestion in the business district.

Two days after the Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) wrote a letter to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) about traffic congestion and critical infrastructure deficiencies in BKC, the traffic police met the diamond merchants on Wednesday to take stock of the situation.

Following a two-hour meeting at Bharat Diamond Bourse, the traffic police have decided to implement at least four temporary diversions for vehicular movement in the business district from August 8. It isn’t clear till when the diversions will exist.

According to an official note released by deputy commissioner of police Samadhan Pawar, vehicular traffic coming to BKC via the BKC-Chunabhatti connector bridge and MTNL junction has increased significantly, resulting in congestion. The recent closure of the Sion railway overbridge has played a part.

Other solutions discussed at the meeting included creating one-way roads throughout BKC, ensuring that autorickshaws follow traffic rules and queue up, and realigning BEST bus stops. “The meeting was positive,” said a diamond merchant.

BKC is infamous for its autorickshaw problem, with shared auto drivers often quoting high fares and bullying regular auto drivers. The shared autos charge ₹30- ₹40 for individual seats during peak hours and don’t allow regular auto drivers to ply to BKC.

“People should encourage carpooling to lessen traffic in BKC. Moreover, a green corridor can be created with ample plants and tree cover on footpaths to ease walking for pedestrians,” said Khetsi Barot, director of The Guardians Real Estate Advisory, which is headquartered in G Block, BKC.

Due to the ongoing metro rail work and other infrastructure projects, the movement of BEST buses in BKC has also been impacted. Sources said that during the meeting, the scope of realigning bus stops and enabling BEST buses to take longer turns was discussed, which could improve the situation. At least 75,000 passengers travel in BEST buses to BKC every day.

The movement of BEST buses has also been affected by ongoing work and traffic diversions at Kurla railway station, from where many Mumbaiites commute to BKC. Bandra station, the closest to BKC on the Western Line, also isn’t serviced by all BEST buses plying to the business district. Some of the BEST routes only go up to the Western Express Highway, from where people have to either walk or hail autos to Bandra station.