Town Planning Gone Wrong - Case Study Mumbai

Town Planning gone wrong - Case study Mumbai Mumbai is commercial capital of India. As such it has visitors from all parts of India and many foreign countries. It has port and lot many cargo ships come here. It has Bollywood. People from all over come here to meet their aspirations. The Municipal Corporation of Mumbai is richest . Their budget is more than many small states. Huge revenue is generated by charging property tax. However there are no elections and no corporator for last 2 years. Mumbai is the only city in India wherein suburban train passes through city giving good connectivity to different areas of the city. The train network has helped in creating satellite townships with easy connectivity to central business district where jobs are available. In Mumbai Train came first and city developed later. However after Britishers left there has been lot many wrong doings as far as town planning is concerned. 1) City opted for Vertical growth instead of horizontal growth. 2) Some effort was made in augmenting water supply with projects like Upper Vaitarna. However matching investments to increase sewage handling capacity has not been done. 3) The World Bank had suggested Public Transport model like Singapore and discourage use of personal cars. Whereas Mumbai encourages private cars .taxis ,two wheelers and Autos. It also encourage private buses. 4) Mumbai created multiple flyovers on Eastern and Western Express Highways. However all of them create bottlenecks at the end of chain. There is huge traffic at Toll booths when exiting the city. There is huge traffic at Sion and Bandra where highways end. 5) Mumbai created eastern freeway. But there is traffic at Carnac exit at south and Chembur exit at North. 6) Mumbai is creating coastal.roads but there is going to be bumper to bumper traffic at the exit of coastal road. 7) The decision to make overhead metro is another blunder. Mumbai could have made underground metro like Singapore, HongKong , Tashkent and even Chennai and Kolkata. They have made it on top of roads which has increased congestion. Some of the glaring example of town planning gone wrong is given.below. 1) Gokhale Bridge. The Gokhale Bridge connecting Andheri East to Andheri West was reconstructed. As advised by railway authoritiesthe height was increased. But it created level.difference with another Bridge which takes to Barfiwala Marg. 2) Kalina Viaduct falling on northern side of Western Express at Santacruz. MCGM.made good efforts in widening Western Express Highway with service road on either side. The road condition was improved and it became smooth ride. Later on one flyover which is coming from Kalina side was dropped on WEH for north bound traffic towards Borivali. This has blocked 2 lanes on WEH. The traffic which is coming from South ( Bandra side) has 4 lanes but suddenly they become 2 lanes. There is perpetual traffic on Westetn Express Highway at this point 24 X 7. 3) Sea link to Bandra ( W) Vehicles coming from South side of sea link and wanting to go to Bandra ,Khar ,Juhu etc. are required to take small flyover. This leads to SV Road. There is traffic coming from Mahim Causeway to SV road as well. Both traffics merge at get stuck at Lucky Restaurent cross road. The wait here is beyond tolerable limit. 4) JVLR and Metro 6 Jogeshwari - Vikhroli road was widened and concretized by spending crores of rupees. Those who had done encroachment were provided accommodation elsewhere. It was estimated that motorist will cross this distance within 17 minutes. Later Pillars were erected and metro stations created at short intervals slowing down the traffic. 5) SCLR Santacruz- Chembur Link Road. This road was made as additional link between East and West Today we find perpetual traffic on this road. There are many bottleneck. Multiple flyovers and exits making motorists connfused. While road has been made wide with 4 lanes ,suddenly it becomes 2 lane causing congestion. LBS crossing, railway overbridge and old tyre shops are common points of congestion. 6) Metro 1 to 14 Mumbai is spending whopping Rs 2.5 lacs crores in Metro construction. Rs 2,500 00,00,00,000 The Metro is elevated and has already blocked otherwise congested roads. Metro 1 has declared itself as loss making. Private promoter has exited. Now all Metros will be run by tax payers money. Funding will be required to MMRDA who have taken huge loans. In metro 1 Commuters have turned to bus travel as same is cheaper. In.Hyderabsd Metro also same thing has happened. All infra projects have caused following pitfalls. 1) Loss of green cover. Thousands of trees have been axed by publishing notices ,calling for objections & later to go ahead with axing. 2) Dusty Atmosphere Rampant construction activity has enveloped Mumbai with dust. 3) Batching Plants Huge concrete mix plants are erected. There are concrete mix trucks and dumpers carrying debris on all over streets of Mumbai. 4) Malaria The stagnant water at construction site has caused breeding of mosquitoes and subsequent spread of Malaria. Now the question here is whom to blame? Well answer is authorities only. MMRDA , MCGM , State Govt and Indian Railways. While projects are announced and implemented the after effect is not studied in advance. Today people are finding ways and means to escape the city. Hinjewadi in Pune is also living example of bad town planning. Due to traffic snarls 34 IT companies exited. Business establishments are also leaving Mumbai. What can be done now ? 1) Move Govt offices to Teesari Mumbai. 2) Adopt Singapore model for parking and use of personal cars. 3) Plant at least 1 lacs tree samplings in the land which is still available. The Mumbai model of development is lesson for town planners. DPK Udas dpkudas@hotmail.com