[sustran] Re: Flyovers increasing citizen woes

[Lake Sagaris]

Good article. Congratulations, Kisan, hope it helps get some changes. Best, 
Lake

(Living City, Santiago, Chile)

At 06:13 PM 5/10/02 +0530, you wrote:
>Dear Sustran Friends,
>
>The long elevated road cum flyover out of the 52 proposed and majority in 
>use was commissioned on 1st May 2002.    While the
>motorists have been benefitted, citizens are put to serious
>difficulties.  While Motorists driving farther than the length of
>the flyover have a joy ride,  motorists staying or working in the
>area have got  500 parking space below the flyover.  Entire
>length of the flyover and 2 km beyond the flyover was hitherto no parking 
>area.  So motorists are gifted with parking space in one
>of the most congested area having a resident density of around
>80,000 per sq km and a visitors density of 150,000.
>
>Sufferers are the citizens and pedestrians.   The govt is now
>constructing 52 flyovers and has started constructing the Sealink
>at an undisclosed cost of Rs 70 billion.   The govt is now woeing
>with the World Bank for a loan on another MUTP project
>estimated at Rs 60 billion to increase motorisation.  The Bank is
>practically committed.  India after all is the first or second largest
>Bank client.   This is how the Bank puts citizens to difficulty.
>
>The following article highlights citizen difficulties.
>
>
>`JJ flyover has made life miserable for pedestrians'
>
>By Vidyadhar Date
>
>Times News Network
>
>Times of India Mumbai Edition 08 May 2002
>
>Mumbai. While offering a joy ride to motorists and motor-cyclists the 
>viaduct between J.J. hospital and Palton Road has made life more miserable 
>for pedestrians. The footpath all along J.J. hospital compound has been 
>removed exposing pedestrians to serious hazards. `This is scandalous,' 
>said R.N. Dave, a retired college lecturer whose son studies neurology and 
>lives in J.J. hospital premises. Every time I step out of J.J. hospital, I 
>am afraid of being knocked down, he said.. Worse, a number of cars and 
>trucks are parked along the stretch. Traffic signals near J.J. hospital 
>are synchronised in such a way that pedestrians just cannot cross the road 
>without being run over by cars.
>
>But motorists have also begun paying the price of the unlimited freedom 
>given to them by the flyover.. Accidents have already started occurring on 
>the viaduct as cars are driven without concern for safety, especially 
>safety of others.. A motorist, who met with an accident,said while 
>requesting anonymity that people are driving along the flyover just for 
>the fun of it with total disregard for others.. They ride from Chhatrapati 
>Shivaji Terminus to J.J. hospital and come back again. In fact, most of 
>the car trips in Mumbai, according to experts, are entirely redundant.
>
>All this has actually increased traffic jams. `I have travelled on the 
>viaduct in the last two days and both the days I encountered a big traffic 
>jam after coming down from the flyover near J.J. hospital,' said architect 
>Moyyed Fatehi. It took almost eight to ten minutes to get out of the mess, 
>he said. . The projections of traffic experts are coming true, the 
>flyovers are ultimately adding to the city's traffic problems.
>
>He said while the standard of construction of the flyover was good, the 
>road and footpaths below are left in a deplorable condition. The flyover 
>has helped traffic for long distance travellers and fun lovers but life is 
>still miserable for people in the area. The road space has actually shrunk 
>because of the pillars of the flyover and the allotting of space in the 
>middle of the road for car parking.
>
>Besides, as the cars are parked diagonally, they obstruct traffic and 
>create a jam as they are pulled out, Mr Fatehi said.
>
>Instead of offering more facilities for pedestrians, the authorities are 
>creating more problems for them , said Kisan Mehta, a veteran of the Save 
>Bombay Committee and former BEST Chairperson.
>
>Mr Mehta demanded that the Mumbai Urban Transport Project II should 
>earmark Rs 200 crore for providing footpaths. He has drawn the attention 
>of the World Bank to the neglect of the needs of pedestrians by the 
>municipal corporation in Mumbai.
>
>The J.J. flyover is of no use to the BEST bus system which carries 
>millions of people daily. In fact, for the past several months bus traffic 
>has been diverted because of the flyover which has heavily added to the 
>fuel bill of BEST. It is strange that the public transport should be 
>penalised for the benefit of cars which carry far fewer people than buses 
>or trains, Mr Mehta said.
>
>Only one BEST bus, No 40 running between Borivli and Dadar, is using the 
>newly built flyovers. The JJ flyover has also led to a heavy increase in 
>traffic in the CST area causing unprecedented chaos opposite 
>Anjuman-i-Islam school. School children will be severely affected by the 
>heavy increase in honking of vehicles.
>
>The Pedder Road Residents Association has decided to thoroughly scrutinise 
>the proposal for the proposed viaduct on Pedder Road, said its chairperson 
>and history scholar Veena Singhal. `We have urged Mr P.D. Karandikar, 
>managing director of the Maharashtra state road development corporation 
>(MSRDC) to submit a detailed written proposal so that technical experts 
>can evaluate it.
>
>Ms Singhal told Times News Network that it was proposed to appoint 
>transport expert P.G. Patankar and technical expert Shirish Patel on the 
>committee. She has also submitted a plan to make Pedder Road one-way 
>during certain hours. Once this plan works, we would demonstrate that 
>there is no need for the viaduct, she said.
>
>..........
>   Best wishes  Priya Salvi and Kisan Mehta

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