SoBo braces for traffic surge as Coastal Road promenade awaits opening
'As soon as the Coastal Road promenade is thrown open to the public, and in future when the green spaces on the reclaimed land are ready, cars will flood our neighbourhood,' said Nigum Lakhani, BCRF member. 'There's already an acute lack of parking space.'
The residents were, however, relieved to note that parking would not be allowed along the promenade, a challenge Marine Drive residents have been facing. 'The parking situation along the Coastal Road promenade will become clear as and when it opens. Right now, we have restricted parking, so that cars cannot stop there,' said Kumbhare. 'What is certain is that we will not allow parking along the new promenade. We have put signboards and issued notifications for this. Vehicles that break this rule will be fined.'
The BCRF had another request for the traffic authorities, urging that they be allowed to park on land being vacated for work on the Coastal Road. They placed this demand before local MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha, on Thursday. Their request was turned down but, they said, they would persist. The residents pointed out that their parking woes were compounded by cars parked by Breach Candy doctors and patients visiting Candy Hospital.
Worli residents too are bracing for a new flood of traffic. 'A few underpasses are planned for access to the Coastal Road promenade from Worli, so we expect this stretch to become a permanent feature on the Mumbai Darshan itinerary,' said Viren Shah, who lives in the area. 'People in cars will stop here randomly, to take selfies.' He also highlighted the problem of speeding cars on the Coastal Road, especially on Sunday mornings.
Nepean Sea Road residents had a very different concern. 'We haven't been given access to the promenade, so there's no question of being affected by traffic heading for the Coastal Road promenade,' said Mukul Mehra, secretary, NRCF. 'We have requested access to the promenade but there's been no headway on this.'
Earlier this month, the residents had urged the civic authorities to provide access through MSRDC land, behind Priyadarshini Park, along the coastline. Interestingly, this is the same land Breach Candy residents had identified for an additional exit towards Nepean Sea Road, hoping it would ease traffic flow through their neighbourhood. However, MSRDC has refused to allow the BMC to use their property.
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Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Regal junction revamp gets heritage panel's in-principle nod
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Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
Palghar cops flag ‘black spots' on Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway, write to NHAI
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The letter, sent to the NHAI in the last week of July, said previous letters from the police on repairs and traffic safety measures had drawn no response, prompting the police to conduct an audit and identify the black spots. The situation is so dire for motorists using this stretch that Palghar district collector Indurani Jakhar met with NHAI officers in July, pointing to large cracks in the concrete at the Vasai phata toll naka. She told NHAI officers that the number of accidents had risen between Talasari and Warkhande due to multiple openings in the median, leading to reckless lane-cutting and increased crash risk. In its audit, the Palghar police has noted a detailed list of issues that needs to be fixed. Recurring throughout the list are hazardous media openings, encouraging motorists to drive on the wrong side of the road, poor illumination, sharp and dangerous curves, encroachments and speeding. Here's a snapshot of how dangerous the Palghar stretch of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway, also called the NH-48, really is: In 2023, the number of serious accidents and corresponding fatalities was 182 and 106; in 2024, it was 74 and 86; while until July 2025, there were 65 serious accidents, including 71 deaths. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway came into focus when industrialist and former Tata Sons chairperson Cyrus Mistry died in a high-speed crash on the highway, on a bridge across the Surya River, on September 4, 2022. Although a case of rash driving was registered against the individual driving the Mercedes they were travelling in, the accident also brought to light the faulty design of the road leading up to the bridge. Shocking neglect Former Shiv Sena UBT corporator and transport activist Javed Lulania said, 'The NHAI claimed they had taken corrective measures and removed the accident site from the list of black spots. And yet there have been at least four accidents on the same spot since then.'' Also turning the highway into a death trap is very poor concretisation work, which has left the stretch pockmarked and cratered. Lulania, who has been working hard to improve road conditions on the highway, said, 'The concretising is haphazard and sometimes ad hoc, which is shocking for a stretch that connects two major cities.' He added, 'Often, the NHAI authorities randomly place barricades across the carriageway, leaving only one lane for traffic movement. The NHAI authorities claim they have positioned sufficient traffic marshalls on this stretch, but in reality there are only a handful. If a vehicle breaks down, there is barely any towing provision.' Borivali resident, J S Shah, a factory owner in Vapi, concurs. 'Till two years ago, I used to regularly drive to Vapi and back. I was pleased when the NHAI concretised the entire highway. But the stretch soon turned into a death trap as the concrete cracked and cratered, ruining my car's suspension. After spending ₹2 lakh in repairs, I gave up driving on this highway and now I take the train.' Dr Anand Kapse at M L Dhawle Hospital situated along the highway said, 'Ambulances are often delayed in reaching us, endangering lives.' He added that the condition of the highway is so bad that many have switched to travelling by train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. 'We are hoping the Mumbai Vadodara Expressway opens soon, so that there is an alternative route available.'' Honouring his son's memory Lulania operates two WhatsApp groups for motorists, flagging traffic issues in real time on the NH-48. His son Owez died on the highway a few years ago while returning to Ahmedabad from Mumbai. The SUV he was travelling in skid and crashed near Silent Valley Resort. The railings at the site were broken and Owez died on the spot. His father has since made it his mission to campaign to improve road safety on the highway so that others don't meet his son's fate. Among his many public service initiatives, Lulania and a group of 12 others offer a free ambulance service to accident victims on the NH-48. Despite efforts to get the NHAI to commit to improving the highway, little seems to have changed. Former Mumbai mayor and Sena UBT deputy leader, Vishakha Raut said, 'I travel to my village in Boisar by road every fortnight. I see only labourers on site when the highway is being upgraded, but I have never seen engineers or government employees. This is shocking for a highway that connects two business hubs like Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Why don't the local MLAs raise this issue in the assembly?'' NHAI manager (technical) in charge of the Thane unit, Dipendra Singh told HT, 'We have done many improvements to the NH-48 and continue to do so. We have got ₹20 crore sanctioned to fix black spots on priority. The road is bad in some places, but this is because state government agencies had dug up the road to lay pipes and then handed us the site late for upgradation.'' Bal Malkit Singh, advisor and former president of the All India Motor Transport Congress, makes a pertinent point. 'We pay a heavy toll and, despite this, a truck that needs three days on the Surat-Mumbai-Surat run now takes five days. Traffic jams cost us diesel and maintenance, not to mention the back problems drivers are developing from navigating the highway's cratered surface.' No trauma care The 100-km stretch from Vasai to Vapi did not have a major hospital that could treat serious accident cases until August 2019, when the state health department started constructing a trauma-care centre at Manor. Soon after the death of Cyrus Mistry in 2022, the state decided to speed it up. HT visited the site on August 5, but the work was far from complete. The superstructure was leaking in many places and there were no beds or equipment. The operation theatre too was not complete. Dr Ramdas Marad, a civil surgeon in Palghar district, said the work had stopped completely during the Covid-19 pandemic and restarted only after Mistry's accident. Three years later, it is nowhere near complete. 'There is a great paucity of funds to complete the work. It will take another eight to ten months to complete the hospital,' he said.
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Changing track on pollution
The Supreme Court's decision on Tuesday to halt coercive action against owners of so-called end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) is more than just a procedural breather: It's a much-needed shift away from an unscientific, punitive approach that has bothered motorists for nearly a decade. The court has agreed to revisit its own 2018 order, which upheld the National Green Tribunal's 2014 directive banning diesel vehicles over 10 years old and petrol vehicles over 15 from the roads in the National Capital Region. In doing so, it has given space to discuss a valid argument: Emissions, rather than age, should be the yardstick of a vehicle's roadworthiness. There is no data-based evidence proving that every diesel vehicle over 10 years old is uniformly more polluting than a newer one. (Hindustan Times) On paper, the logic of the original ban appeared to be straightforward — older vehicles are presumed to pollute more. But such a presumption is a poor substitute for scientific rigour. There is no data-based evidence proving that every diesel vehicle over 10 years old is uniformly more polluting than a newer one. In fact, many such vehicles have low annual mileage, are well maintained, and meet pollution under control (PUC) norms. A vintage car that is taken out a few times a year may be cleaner over its lifetime than a modern SUV driven daily through Delhi's gridlock. The age-based ban is a blunt approach — easy to enforce, but scientifically questionable. The broader point is that Delhi's pollution crisis will not be solved through piecemeal measures. Targeting motorists while leaving far more damaging sources — industrial emissions, construction dust, biomass burning — largely untouched is selective enforcement. Such bans also disproportionately affect lower- and middle-income citizens for whom replacing a vehicle is a financial burden. They also ignore the environmental cost of scrapping and manufacturing — processes that consume vast energy resources. If the aim is cleaner air, the route must be a comprehensive, sector-wide strategy that marries technology with policy. Real-world emissions monitoring, expansion of clean public transport, mandatory retrofitting of high emitters, and investment in walkable and cyclable infrastructure must form the core. The role of the State is to create systems that are proactive, consistent, and rooted in science. The Supreme Court has now opened the door to establishing a more rational framework — one that focuses on pollution vehicles, not their birthdays. If the government can seize this moment to craft a broad-spectrum, evidence-based plan, Delhi could finally take a step towards solving its air crisis.
