The visit of Prince Phillipe and Princess Mathilde of Belgium to Mumbai last week gave them a rare taste of how good life can be without jams caused by hordes of illegally parked vehicles.
At a time when citizens dread VIPs coming to their city as it leads to traffic jams and travel restrictions, the villagers residing in Sahar near the international airport feel quite the contrary. The visit of Prince Phillipe and Princess Mathilde of Belgium to Mumbai last week gave them a rare taste of how good life can be without jams caused by hordes of illegally parked vehicles.
They say that last week the Sahar Road was completely free of illegal parking, which until then was not being curbed either by the Regional Transport Office (RTO), or the local police, in spite of numerous reminders. “As the prince and his wife were staying at a five star hotel at Andheri-Kurla Road, the entire area did have any vehicle illegally parked, right from Post & Telegraph (P&T) colony, Sahar, to Andheri-Kurla Road,” said Nicholas Almeida, ex-corporator and a resident of Sahar village. “We pray that a VIP comes to Mumbai everyday so that we can get some relief,” he added.
The road leading from P&T Colony to Andheri-Kurla Road is infested with vehicles parked on the road. “Most of these tourist vehicles come from out of the city and are dangerously parked on these roads near vital installations like the Indian Oil plant. We have repeatedly sent reminders to the RTO, as well as the local police station, about this vehicle menace. But nothing has been done so far,” Almeida said. “The government can earn a lot of revenue by towing away these vehicles,” he sarcastically added.
The residents say that apart from the tourist vehicles, residents of nearby areas also park their vehicles on this road at night, making the road narrower, which leads to traffic jams. “As these areas are not sufficiently lit, prostitution also takes place in these lanes. There have also been cases of vehicle theft,” said another resident. Moreover, since there are vital installations in the area, about 50 to 100 vehicles are permanently parked in the vicinity.
As the situation returns to square one, Sahar residents say that if the authorities do not act on the issue, they will be forced to start an agitation. “We will launch a rasta roko by inflating the tyres of the illegally-parked vehicles or clamp the vehicles and give the keys to the RTO, as well as the police,” said Jerry Fernandes, 35, a resident of Church Pakhadi, Sahar.
“The city is going through a lot of development, which is likely to cause some inconvenience. There are over 20 lakh vehicles in the city at present, and we are doing our best to address the illegal parking issue,” said Nand Kumar Chougule, DCP (traffic).
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