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62 MUMBAI

To put Mumbai's population of 18 millioninto perspective, it is greater thanthose ofEuropean countries such as the Netherlands,Greece and Portugal. Each day; over 4.5lakh vehicles pass through thewesternand eastern corridors combined.Whencongestion peaks, it can take the same timeto travel eight miles across this city as it canto travel the 117 miles from Hartford to NewYork by road, which highlights the deeprooted problem faced by Mumbaiites.Similar to any other bustling municipality;Mumbai has many viable transportationoptions for residents, visitors and, perhapsmore importantly; industry. Rail and busnetworks are widespread, and rickshaws,radio/taxi cabs and cars fill in the gaps.They all combine to enable the incessantgrowth ofmobility within India's financialcapital - and, with the exception ofrail, theyall contribute to the congestion. Adding tothe chaos is the fact that only the minorityadhere to traffic rules and regulations.the majority ignore them.

The fuel factorTraffic congestion ofthe magnitudeexperienced inMumbai does not affectmerely journey time. Fuel wastage due topoor traffic conditions is estimated at 4-5litres a day; so if a business relies heavily- or even decisively - on transportationaround the city; the congestion problemwill result in unnecessary costs.Thereasons for this excess fuel dissipationmclude bad roads, unrefined parkingallowances and deficient traffic systems.In a recent article in The Times of India,Nitin Dossa, executive president oftheWestern India Automobile Association,highlighted the role that poor roadconditions play in creating traffic congestion,unequivocally stating that "conditions arepathetic". He also put forward his beliefthat

people are ready and prepared to pay tolls,instead ofwasting time and money on fueLLooking for answersA great deal ofeffort has gone into easingcongestion inMumbai, and the expansion

ofexisting resources is also helpingto alleviate the growing pressure. TheMumbaiMetropolitan Region DevelopmentAuthority (MMRDA) believes that entirenew developments that bypass the problemareas represent the best option- withlongevity of success pivotal. Flyovershave already been completed atThakurComplex, Dindoshi, DomesticAirport,Malad Junction, NavgharJunction, Hindamataand Sion Hospital. Theywill soon be joinedby the 500m, Rs 25 crore SumanNagarflyover, which is slated for a summer 2011opening. In earlyMay 2011, it was 750/ 0complete and, accordingto MMRDA's jointproject director, Dilip Kawathkar, this latestflyover - the seventh ofthe 11 planned-will help congestion in the Chembur area.Nandkumar Chowgule, the deputycommissioner ofpolice, is confident thatflyovers such as the SumanNagarwillultimately be beneficial to the economy:"Faster road clearance will lead to adecrease in fuel consumption and thusexpenses." For any business searchingfor

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In the past, flyovers havesucceeded In easing Mumbal's congestion for a while,but Increasingvehicle traffic soon catches up, leading tothe same old story of hour-long snarls all overagain

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Focus on public transport'Tb fully understandthe problem ofcongestion, it is important to consider thesheer number of people being transported,and the MMRDA iswell aware that thepublic transport system requires attention.BrihanmumbaiElectric Supply; Transportbuses (BES1) along with suburban railaccounted for BB% of all passenger travel inMumbai in 2008, which equates to over 5.5million passengers a day.When the volumeof people taking public transport is analysedmore closely; what becomes clear is thatmerely increasingthe number of flyovers,for example, is just one strand ofthesolution. BEST, for instance, runs 4,013buses, coveringmore than 390 routesso attacking this othermain cause ofcongestion seems logical, too.Asthana has explainedthat a bus rapidtransit system (BRTS) could not workinMumbai, as the city does not have sufficientroads. He did, however, state that theWestern and Eastern Express Highwayscould both use, and greatly benefit from,dedicated bus lanes - a concession thatgives hope for the optimisation ofpublictransport aroundMumbai.With all the changes being made andthose in the pipeline, the landscape ofMumbai's traffic congestion is set to changedramatically This will have a great impact oncommuters as well as businesses, which willfeel the immediate benefits oftheir trucks,goods, drivers and other staff spendingless time stuck on the road.

The MMRDA - which understandsthe importance ofcontinued progression- is also considering introducing acongestion charge to act as a deterrentto entering busy areas ofthe city. Thetransportation community has put its weightbehind such a notionby pointing to othercountries that have overcome similarproblemswith such a system- the 2003CentralLondonCongestion Charge beinga case in point. MMRDA commissionerRahul Asthana believes carrying out sucha project may prove problematic, althoughultimately he is still in favour.

Industrialisation and traffic growth InMumbai has resulted In congestion thathasraised pollution at various crunch points57 commercial buildings and 32 residentialstructures. MMRDA spokesmanVivekPhansalkar says that, after completion, hebelieves "congestionwill be dramaticallyreduced". The significance of this highwaycannot be underestimated.

Table 1:A breakdown of the overall length of the JVLR (source: www.msrdc.org)Section 1 FromWestern ExpressHighway to Saki-Vihar Road Junction 4.9km

near L&T Powa1worksSection 2 From Sala-VJhar Roadjunction to LBS Margjunction 4.3kmSection 3 From LBS Marg Junction to EasternExpressHighway l .lkmTotal lO.3km

new premises it seems patience is the orderofthe day; because when all 11 flyovers arecomplete, companies will find this area moreaccessible and workable, economicallyspeaking. Construction of the flyovers willcost theMMRDA around Rs 500 crore.Jogeshwari-Vikhroli LinkRoadFor some, the ]ogeshwari-VJkhroliLinkRoad(JVLR) exemplifies the congestionprobleminMumbai. Following a recent study; the]VLR - which connects the eastern andwestern suburbs - was officially labelled'dead slow' during key peak hours, due totraffic volume, ineffective traffic mitigationmethods and continuingroadworks. Thestudy; whichwas conducted betweenpeak and off-peakhours, went some wayto confirming popular beliefregardingpassenger throughput. Passenger numbersbetween lIT Market and Gandhi Nagardecreased by more than 60 0 0 during thepeak hour of IB.30hrs to 19.30hrs comparedwith the same study carried out just onehour earlier, between 17.30hrs and IB.30hrs.Due for completion inDecember 2012,the 2km extension to the existing 10.3km ofthe]VLR (as shown inThble 1) continues todisrupt the surrounding area, butWesternRailway has finally allowed constructionof a road-over bridge (ROB) between]ogeshwari andAndheri stations.

Furthermore, the BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation (BMC) has put Itsplans into practice by clearingthe way alongthe ]ogeshwari railway station through to SVRoad. The demolition cleared 24 shanties,

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