Metro barricades, debris add to traffic chaos

The Mumbai Traffic Police has asked the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation to check if barricades and debris at metro construction sites can be removed ahead of the monsoon to ease traffic woes during rain.

The matter has acquired a certain urgency as on Saturday the pre-monsoon showers sent the traffic for a toss in the city and suburbs; Metro barricades, which have led to narrowing down of the road creating bottlenecks, were cited as a reason for the bumper to bumper traffic.

“The flow of traffic is especially impeded on the Western Expressway, as motorists found out on Saturday. Also, debris and construction material lying on the road has congested the arterial roads. So, we have asked the MMRC officials to undertake an inspection at ongoing construction sites and see if the barricades as well as the debris can be removed ahead of monsoon; otherwise, the vehicular traffic will be thrown out of gear,” a senior MTP officer told the Free Press Journal.

In a joint meeting held last week, Mumbai Traffic Police officials had also asked MMRC as well as the civic body to identify waterlogging spots in the city.

MMRC claims that it has cleaned and desilted the storm water drains. Every year Mumbaikars face waterlogging issues at Kalanagar, Kherwadi, Andheri subway, Khar subway, Poddar school, Santa Cruz, Hansbhogra Road, JVLR and Aarey junction, to name a few. “We have asked the civic body to identify the spots by June 15. Also, we have asked them to check manholes in the city,” the traffic officer said.

An MTP official said parking of private buses in ‘no

parking zones’ also creates excruciating jams and pile-ups, especially during monsoon. “We are taking action against these private buses. We have also identified traffic diversions points to ease traffic snarls,” the officer said.

On Friday, a DCP-level meeting of city police and the MTP took place in Andheri (E) to tackle traffic bottlenecks from JVLR onto WEH.