Mumbai roads shrink, but vehicle numbers expand

While the length of the city’s roads on Friday remained the same as it was last January — at 1,990km, Regional Transport Offices statistics revealed that in the same period, 821 new vehicles were registered every day.

For a metropolis with a population of 1.24 crore, there are 33.52 lakh vehicles and for every kilometre, there are 1,684 vehicles. But to compound the expected traffic snarls, the poor design and quality of these roads puts the lives of commuters in danger whenever they step on the road, according to experts.

On Thursday, a 35-year-old man and his seven-year-old son died after their scooter skidded on the Ghatkopar-Andheri link road and a speeding truck ran over them from behind. A local corporator held the bad condition of the road as responsible for the accident.

Urban planning consultant Sulakshana Mahajan said, “Do you really think someone designs Mumbai roads? The roads are only concretised without application of mind. There are factors to be considered – a design to avoid congestion, to avoid waterlogging and safe passage for pedestrians. None of these factors influence the planning of roads,” Mahajan said. She added, “Even if we were to overhaul the entire road network to redesign it, it will cost far less than what we pay to concretise roads. Because of bad roads, we end up paying with our health, injuries and even life.”

However, the numbers also present another story. Last year, 389 people were killed in 374 road crashes in the city. In 2017, there were 467 accidents and in 2016, 529. According to experts, the drop in the number over the past few years is because of the construction of Metro corridors. With the construction eating into road space, there is no scope or space for a speeding accident.

The traffic department and the state still have an uphill task at hand in light of the Brasilia declaration, where India has pledged to reduce road deaths by 50% in 2020. Transport expert AV Shenoy said that bikers should be the focus of the traffic police and not to just check if they wear helmets. “Most bikers flout every rule and that is because of ads that encourage speeding and stunts,” he said.

Meanwhile, when it comes to congestion, the city’s traffic woes are best exemplified on the Western Express Highway where motorists are accustomed to spending a couple of hours still. If not the jams, then there are potholes that slow down vehicles.