Mumbai Congestion

Mumbai, the financial capital of India is over populated and to manage mobility within the city is a huge task on the administration that is grappling with traffic congestion and health hazards from pollution. The Government of Maharashtra is urgently catering to relieve the traffic issues that plague the streets. MSDC was given the task of improving the current traffic conditions. Their aim is to alleviate the traffic congestion in the city of Mumbai by constructing 50 flyovers. The basic purpose of the flyover is to ease the traffic and the attempt to maintain and reduce the congestion at key junctions, but the fact is, there is, NO change! No matter what the Government does we still are facing the same problem.


Lets take an example of J.J flyover, it was built 2.4 km long so as to reduce the traffic jam not only above the flyover but also below it. The travel time after using the flyover reduces from 30 min to 5 min. Commendable! But what happened below the flyover is tale. The B.M.C appointed contractors to allow parking not just below the flyover but also both the sides of the footpath. The road from V.T. station to J.J. hospital is a narrow road plus vehicles parked on the road makes traffic jam a natural consequence. Never the less the Mumbaikars face one problem every monsoon. Yes, your guess is right , "Potholes" the miserable state of Mumbai's roads. The city is filled with bumpy roads and media gets new Breaking News to flash and make it disastrous. New flyovers built are studded with potholes and the highways sometimes look like someone actually went and manually dug the road. That bad. B.M.C's promises get washed out everyyear along with the rain. Out of frustration people in Mumbai are not following the traffic rules and lane discipline which worsen the traffic condition.



To start with let’s explore the key causes of traffic congestion in Mumbai

- The city has public transportation system like public buses and trains but due to less frequency these sources of transport are so crowded that there is an increase in private vehicles & rickshaws.

- Due to lack of driving discipline the ratio of traffic is much more and there are lots of Accidents which causes death for no reason.

- Potholes/ Under Construction activities & repairs

- Parking



What is the solution for a city like Mumbai to manage the growing pressure on congestion?

- Increase in the frequency of BEST buses and trains which will help reducing crowd and it will be more user friendly for people to use these sources of transportation instead of private vehicles & rickshaws.

-Rickshaw stands at designated areas and call-for-rickshaw facility.

- All road maintenance and repair work should be done at night time.

- Station roads should be one way

-Penalize transportation trucks on busy lanes during peak hours

- Enforce lane discipline

And last but not the least, we as pedestrians should start using footpaths & sidewalks. The footpaths are well constructed, still people choose to walk on the road and do not move unless they are forced to, using HORNS which not just increase noise pollution but also gets on people's mind and create nuisance.So we as "Mumbaikars" with a little effort, do our duties will make Mumbai a better place to live.