Justice JN Patel and Justice SJ Kathawalla said that it is the duty of the state government to see that these agencies co-ordinate and work together.
As ways of decongesting traffic in Mumbai were debated before the Bombay High Court on Wednesday, the court felt that there needs to be greater co-ordination among various governing bodies to ensure the execution of various infrastructure projects in Mumbai.
Justice JN Patel and Justice SJ Kathawalla said that it is the duty of the state government to see that these agencies co-ordinate and work together.
“No projects are undertaken. They are only displayed in newspapers. There are ego issues between your officers, they don't see eye-to-eye,” Justice Patel remarked. At a hearing of a PIL filed by the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) that pitched for the implantation of the Traffic Restraint Scheme (TRS), the BEST Undertaking stated that it supported the scheme.
Advocate for BEAG, Shiraz Rustomji said that there is no policy pertaining to private vehicles in the city. He added that proposals like car-pool, hiked parking charges to control the flow of traffic in the island city had been outlawed by various authorities.
Citing the example of London, Rustomji said that traffic congestion had come down by 20-30% after parking charges were spiked. Rustomji also told the court that the density of traffic in Mumbai has increased and the average speed has come down to 8 kmph from 20 kmph.
Justice Patel, however, asked that what would a common man be expected to do in a situation like this. “Are you saying that only the rich should live in Mumbai?” Justice Patel asked.
The BEST through its affidavit filed on Wednesday informed the court that process to phase out old vehicles by retrofitting with Euro-II (BS-II) engine for 532 buses will be completed by December 31. The state government is still averse to the traffic restraint scheme and maintains that it is impractical.
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