Authorities crack down on illegal parking, encroachments outside the east side of railway station
In a bid to ease traffic jams on city roads the Mumbai Traffic Police and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have joined hands and are now looking for solutions to improve the traffic situation from Bandra Terminus up to the Bandra court stretch.
Pedestrians and motorists were in for a surprise as both the authorities cracked down on illegal parking and demolished encroachments along the Bandra (east) station road, AK Marg. The move which is being carried out since July 2 has resulted in major decongestion of traffic on the entire stretch.
"We identified the major problems affecting traffic movement, which includes vehicles being parked randomly, encroachments and the rickshaw stand operating at one of the exits of Bandra station. Since July 2, we have towed over 350 vehicles," informed Satish Gaikwad, Senior Police Inspector, BKC traffic division adding that some of the vehicles towed had not been moved for months and there was a possibility of it being stolen or abandoned.
He added that currently no vehicles are allowed to park on the road or under the skywalk. "The rickshaw stand is one of the major bottlenecks and we have placed our staff to ensure that they follow lane discipline," said Gaikwad.
Meanwhile, Alka Sasane, Assistant Municipal Commissioner for BMC's H/East ward said that they have started the process of razing unauthorised structures near Nirmal Nagar police station and AK Marg as well.
"We recently had a meeting with the traffic department and it was decided that something needs to be done to decongest this road. A study shows that around 50,000 people use this road per hour during peak hours. We are also working on plans to set up something similar to Thane's Station Area Traffic Improvement Scheme (SATIS) so that the traffic congestion issue can be permanently resolved," Sasane said adding that there were also plans to beautify the areas under the skywalks and they were offering full support to the traffic department.
In fact, sources claimed that after BMC demolished slums on a plot near Garib Nagar, there were plans to shift the rickshaw stand to the plot area. "A majority of autos plying from the auto stand are illegal and RTO needs to seize and scrap them," said a traffic cop.
The bottlenecks
The major bottlenecks outside the station area are vehicles being parked randomly, encroachments and the rickshaw stand operating at one of the exits of Bandra station.
The move is being carried out since July 2 and the razing of structures has resulted in major decongestion of traffic on the entire stretch. The traffic police have also towed over 350 vehicles.
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