The mess that is mass transport
Even as Mumbai continues to add more vehicles to its already congested roads, precious little is being done to strengthen the public transport system in the city, report Shwetaa Karnik and Chittaranjan Tembhekar…………….Shwetaa Karnik and Chittaranjan Tembhekar
Even as Mumbai continues to add more vehicles to its already congested roads, precious little is being done to strengthen the public transport system in the city, report Shwetaa Karnik and Chittaranjan Tembhekar…………….Shwetaa Karnik and Chittaranjan Tembhekar
Every morning Siddhartha Khiraiya spends a third of his two-hour drive from home to office at traffic junctions. Although his Kandivali-Lower Parel commute would take under an hour on train, the banking professional prefers the road. I choose to travel in my car rather than risk my life by hanging near the door of an overcrowded train, says Khiraiya, 30. Juhu resident Nitin Pradhan, a businessman, has similar views about Mumbais public transport system. Does the government expect me to hang from a train, even with a first-class suburban ticket or brush against the shoulders of co-passengers in the BEST bus every time I have to commute to work? Adding that he is not averse to the idea of using public transport, Pradhan says, Let the government give us a comfortable ride and I am sure all car owners will be more than happy to give up travelling by their private cars.
Khiraiya and Pradhan are not alone in their contempt for citys crumbling public transport system that hasnt been able to keep pace with the increasing population.
Khiraiya and Pradhan are not alone in their contempt for citys crumbling public transport system that hasnt been able to keep pace with the increasing population.
The statistics available with the Mumbai traffic police department reveal that during 1951 to 2004, the length of the roads increased by 127 per cent while the number of vehicles registered an increase of 3,109 per cent. In 2007 alone, a whopping 14lakh cars were plying on the city roads. The number of private vehicles has only gone up since and a 15 minute drive from Mahim to Khar now takes over 45 minutes, thanks to traffic snarls that have become the norm.
Even as the government is busy boasting about Mumbais march towards becoming a global financial hub, little is being done to strengthen means of public transport, the absence of which has compelled the likes of Khiraiya and Pradhan to resort to using private vehicles for commutation. While crores are being spent for the construction of various flyovers and road projects, mass transport projects are begging for attention.
Envisioning the travel needs of Mumbaikars, late JRD Tata had mooted the idea of constructing the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) between Nhava and Sewree with rail network in the 70s. But the lack of foresight on the part of administrators not only delayed the project by aeons but also saw the deletion of the rail component. The proposed MTHL comprised a railway network for addition of futuristic metro routes, but the bid documents that were tendered two years ago surprisingly did not include the rail component, says VK Phatak, a retired town planner with Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). According to public works department minister Anil Deshmukh, the government has no plans to construct the rail component on the trans-harbour link as of now.
The citys think tank is busy drawing up plans without studying the bottlenecks that they would create, says Anant Gadgil, architect and transport expert. Citing the example of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, Gadgil says, Once the link is complete, it will only add to traffic at Worli near Atria Mall. City planners are quick to point that unless the government adopts a more imaginative, holistic and integrated approach, the traffic situation will only get worse.
Experts claim that the only way to reduce traffic is through an efficient public transport system. At a time when fuel prices and road taxes are going through the roof, it is criminal not to develop public transport on priority, says Ashok Datar, transport expert. Constructing flyovers across the city can not solve the problem alone, he says. More flyovers mean more cars on the roads, he says adding proper planning is needed to reduce congestion.
Pointing out that more than 25 flyovers have been constructed at a cost of Rs 5,000crore in the city since 1995, Datar says our blind and timid administration has done nothing to regulate the number of vehicles.
The state governments plan to impose a congestion tax has left private vehicle owners fuming. In order to deter people from using private vehicles and opt for public transport, the government had proposed imposing a premium congestion tax on cars driving into busy-traffic areas during peak hours. I will be more than happy to give up my car if the government can provide me with a comfortable and efficient public transport system, says Anita Saudagar, a software executive. But instead of doing that the government wants to charge us for using the infrastructure.
Most transport experts, too, are opposed to the idea of a congestion tax. The government must try to restrict the registration of more cars by a single private party by imposing taxes on them instead of crippling the growth of the city by imposing congestion tax, says Datar.
But there is still hope. Gadgil says the government can explore the sea front for the introduction of point-to-point catamaran services. Gadgils vision may soon come true with MSRDC deciding to go ahead with its East Coast Inland Water Transport project that will provide hovercraft services between Nerul to Colaba. VK Phatak, another town expert, says that there are some good projects in the offing. Metro rail, elevated rail corridor proposed by the Indian Railway and the Monorail are good initiatives, provided they are completed expeditiously.