Comment

Anand Mahindra Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra Group

I believe that implementing an integrated transportation system for Mumbai can make the city one of most dynamic and energised cities in Asia. But we need to act, and we need to act now. The present situation is a nightmare, and unworthy of Mumbai’s status as ‘Urbs Prima in India’. What I would look forward to is a transportation solution that matches the city’s vigour and potential.

For this we need two things. The first is to understand that that there is no one silver bullet that can cater to the multifaceted transportation needs of the 13 million very diverse souls that live and work in the metropolis.The ‘either/or mentality’ has to be replaced by a ‘both/and’ approach. So we need short and long-term measures, new routes for vehicles as well as much better public transport, better parking facilities side by side with pedestrian zones and congestion surcharges. We need everything — and we need it NOW. President Obama, while defending his budget proposals, recently said that the need of the hour was to attack the problem on all fronts. I think the same logic applies to Mumbai and its transportation issues.

The second need is holistic planning. Indeed as the experience at both ends of the Bandra Worli sea link shows, you cannot plan a bridge without planning roads, you cannot plan roads without also planning mass transportation, and mass transportation further calls for pedestrian plazas and parking towers. A fragmented approach minimizes the benefits that any infrastructure project sets out to deliver. So it would be worthwhile to pause, take a breath and implement an integrated future rather than doing a lot of high profile but essentially tunnel vision projects piecemeal. As General Patton famously said, “A pint of sweat will save gallons of blood.”

Mumbai Fundas
According to the BMC, every fourth household in Nana Chowk (around 25.71%) owns a car — the highest in Mumbai. Bandra (West) comes in second with 24.33% of families owning cars. Andheri (West) stands third with 18.89%.