[sustran] Flyovers in Mumbai

Debi Goenka debi at beag.net
Mon Apr 1 22:37:37 JST 2002


Hi Sustraners

Things in Bombay are really livening up - this is another article that
appeared in the Times of India yesterday, re another proposed flyover over
Pedder Road in Bombay. (For all the non-Indian music lovers, Lata and Asha
are sisters, and perhaps the best known singers in India).

Cheers

Debi

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'Lata, Asha are not singing out of tune'


RADHA RAJADHYAKSHA

 [ SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2002  12:44:32 AM ]

MUMBAI: 'Peddar Roadcha vichar tumhi sodun dya (Drop the idea of a flyover
on Peddar Road)'-Lata Mangeshkar to Vilasrao Deshmukh.

If a flyover spirals up before my flat, I will leave the country'- Asha
Bhosle The Mangeshkar sisters, with a little help from the aggressive Peddar
Road Residents' Association, have achieved what the government couldn't have
hoped to in its wildest dreams: they have converted an entire city to the
cause of the flyover.

Suddenly, Mumbaikars-even those who under normal circumstances would
denounce the government's blinkered approach to development'-are joining
hands to sneer at the 'elitism' of the Peddar Road brigade and underlining
the fact that the residents of other localities which were inflicted with
similar structures didn't have a choice.

Logical corollary: why should Peddar Road be spared? This unfortunate creamy
layer-versus-plebs spin on the issue-valid as it may be-has served to
detract from the original argument that imposing flyovers on residential
areas in an artificial solution to the city's problems is an infringement of
citizens' environmental rights.

Worse, there's increasingly an unthinking corollary being added to the
anti-Peddar Road rhetoric-that it is everyone's duty to endure development
which is for the good of the city.

Result: overnight, the Peddar Road flyover, or any other flyover, has moved
from bad' to 'good' in the perception of the average citizen. A perception
which certainly didn't exist when the battles over the Dadar and Andheri
flyovers or the proposed one at Tardeo were being fought.

"It's a problem of ignorance," says Bombay Environmental Action Group
president Debi Goenka.

"Though I'm not very sympathetic to the Peddar Road lobby myself-the charge
of elitism does stick here-the problem is that most Mumbaikars aren't even
aware that there are far more viable alternatives to flyovers. And since the
government itself is not prepared to think along alternative lines, it is
happy that people are in the dark."

Goenka quotes a study by international firm W. S. Atkins, commissioned by
the MMRDA in 1994, which divides city commuters into four categories.

"According to the study, 88 per cent of commuters use public transport
(buses and trains), 7 per cent use what they call intermediate transport
like taxis and rickshaws while only 5 per cent use private transport," he
says.

"It is for this meagre fraction that flyovers and freeways are built-even
buses cannot use them since you can't have bus-stops here. So the upshot is
that we are spending thousands of crores of public money on something that
will benefit less than 10 per cent of the population."

The solution, says Goenka, is to spend the money on mass rapid transport
systems. "All this has been said a hundred times over but it's important to
reiterate it to make a dent in people's consciousness," he says.

"Instead of spending money on flyovers, the government should invest in the
Mumbai Urban Transport Project which is estimated to cost about Rs 6,000
crore and will improve the railways and bus systems infinitely. But even
though the World Bank is pitching in with a substantial loan on the project,
the government is not interested-public transport has never been a priority
for it.Why else would the project be stuck for 13 years while the railways
and politicians fight their turf battles?"

Remedy No 2 is the creation of a separate lane for BEST buses."This was
actually tried out about eight years ago, though very few people are aware
of it," says Goenka.

"One lane was reserved exclusively for BEST buses on Marine Drive and
another on Mohammad Ali Road.The experiment failed because the attitude of
the authorities was that they were doing BEST a favour-lanes were reserved
only in places where there was ample space for cars as well, and violations
were not cracked down on. The point is, if your buses are carrying the lion'
s share of your commuters, they deserve priority-you're not doing them a
favour. And unlike other solutions, reserving a bus lane doesn't even cost
anything."

One way of ensuring more space on the streets for this, says Goenka, is to
reduce the number of private cars.

"If you remember, when there was a taxi strike recently, the streets seemed
almost empty and commuting time was cut down by virtually half," he says.

"If 55,000 registered taxis off the road make such a difference, why can't
we apply this to private cars-a car owner would have to car-pool or use
public transport on only one day of the week. With additional space on the
streets, BEST buses could move from the 12 km per hour that they normally
travel to 25 kmph or more-this way, you're doubling your bus output without
having to spend more money. You also increase fuel-efficiency, have cleaner
air...the benefits are immense."

But isn't this a contentious issue which the Western India Automobile
Association had vociferously opposed when it was mooted some time ago?

"Objections will always be there to everything," says Goenka. "That's where
good governance comes in.Why can't the government try it out for, say, three
months, and then fine-tune the scheme? It won't because all decision-makers
commute by car."

Goenka assails the government's obdurate continuation of the Bandra-Worli
sea link project, which is the main reason for the Peddar Road flyover.

"Two international studies commissioned by the government have said the
Bandra-Worli freeway will not work because all you're doing is postponing
your traffic problems to the next junction," he says.

"Despite that, they went ahead-without environmental clearance or money for
the Worli-Nariman Point leg, to boot. In the circumstances, the Peddar Road
flyover becomes the only option. And when governments compound one mistake
with another, citizens have no choice but to suffer."




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Debi Goenka
Bombay Environmental Action Group

e-mail: debi at beag.net /&\ debi at powersurfer.net


Environmental Education Office

Kalbadevi Municipal School
# 54, 2nd floor, Mumbai 400002

Tel:91-22-2423126    Tfax:91-22-2426385


Residence

B 502 Glengate, Hiran Gardens
Powai Mumbai 400076

Tel:91-22-5700638   Tfax:91-22-5701459
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