Police have also urged the civic body to provide adequate barricades and fill the potholes on the main road, as well as on the minor connecting lanes.A day after closing the Gopal Krishna Gokhale Bridge in Andheri for carrying out much-needed demolition and reconstruction work, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started work on multiple levels at war-footing to ensure there is no hindrance in traffic movement on the available alternate routes in Mumbai.
Gokhale Bridge is a primary connector that connects east and west Andheri, and following the closure of this bridge, BMC has started taking action against hawkers and encroachers in a bid to open up the road to allow smooth traffic movement.
BMC’s action comes after the Mumbai Police’s Traffic Department urged the civic body to take action against hawkers.
In a letter sent to the zonal deputy municipal commissioners (DMC) on November 7, Deputy Commissioner of Police Nitin Pawar stated that hawkers with stalls on SV Road, Link Road and the lanes connecting the two major roads cause the biggest hindrance to smooth movement of traffic.
“If a vehicle breaks down or halts for unloading goods, it results in a massive traffic blockage in the main carriageway of the road,” Pawar said. “While we have stepped up police surveillance, it is getting difficult to take effective action against hawkers,” he added.
Police have also urged the civic body to provide adequate barricades and fill the potholes on the main road, as well as on the minor connecting lanes. Police have also requested the BMC to reduce the width of the existing footpaths in some areas so that the width of the main carriageway of the road increases, which may help in easing traffic movement.
Meanwhile, civic officials said they have started working round-the-clock to ensure smooth flow of traffic. They said that between November 3 and November 7, 389 hawkers were removed from various spots in Andheri. Of these, 105 hawkers were removed from SV Road and its adjoining areas, 86 hawkers were removed from Irla Society and Gulmohar Road, 91 hawkers were removed from Amboli Junction and JP Road and 107 hawkers were removed from the periphery of Andheri and Vile Parle Stations. The BMC has also seized 432 goods and illegal stalls from the hawkers.
“We had started taking action against the hawkers prior to the bridge being shut, and we are providing all the logistical support and necessary help to traffic police. The process of removing the hawkers and encroachers is ongoing and we have allotted designated officers who are carrying out inspection round-the-clock,” said an official.
Civic officials further stated that so far, 27 large potholes have been identified on SV Road and Link Road, of which 16 potholes have already been filled and 11 potholes were being filled till 5 pm on Tuesday. Civic officials have also said that seven ‘bad patches’ on the roads have been identified and repair work has been initiated.
Besides this, the BMC has issued notices to owners of 52 abandoned vehicles that were lying idle at the roadside out of which, 43 such vehicles have already been removed. Officials also maintained that if the owners don’t stake claim in the next 24 hours, the remaining nine vehicles will also be removed.
“We are also installing 100 ‘no parking’ boards in multiple locations in Andheri. So far, 60 have been installed, 40 more will be installed. Besides this, we are painting zebra crossing signages and 50 display boards have been set up, showing alternate routes for the traffic,” added the official.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Traffic Police officials said the flow of traffic was normal on Tuesday as it was a public holiday. Police also said six to seven days will be required to figure out the changed traffic flow.
“We are continuously monitoring the traffic situation and studying the time pattern to understand when the volume of vehicles increases and when it decreases. We will decide on the timing of signals and manpower at the particular points based on our study,” said a senior traffic police official.
Police have also been towing vehicles parked in no-parking zones on SV Road and Link Road to make more space. A police official said, “The traffic in seven traffic divisions (D N Nagar, Jogeshwari, Oshiwara, Sahar, Vakola, Santacruz and Goregaon) have been affected due to closure of the bridge and 10 new points in each of the divisions have been created. We need at least two persons at each of these points, and have requested BMC to provide 200 traffic wardens. Traffic police have increased manpower internally..”.
Dhaval Shah,local resident and founder of the Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizen’s Association (LOCA), said citizens have started to avail metro services now for the east-west commute.
“The entire Andheri area is chock-a-block with traffic… people have become heavily dependent on Metro now, while earlier, auto-rickshaws used to be the most convenient mode of transport,” said Shah on Tuesday.