Marine drive dwellers fear Sargam-like fate

After Thursday's fire at Chembur, the residents of Marine Drive are a frightened lot. Double parking blocked the fire tenders path to Sargam Society, where a blaze killed five people.

The residents of A, B and C roads, that lead from Marine Drive to Churchgate station, fear they would meet a similar fate if a fire broke out in their apartment buildings.

When the fire broke out on the 14th floor of building no 35, fire-fighters lost crucial time as the 12-metre wide approach road to Sargam society had cars parked on both side. Finally, the fire trucks could not make it into the society premises and the fire-fighters had to manually go up the floors to control the blaze.

Like in other parts of the city, the roads in south Mumbai are even more crowded at night as residents park on both sides of the roads leading to their homes.

"The only solution to the parking problem is redevelopment of old buildings, that will create space within the building premises," says Mahendra Hemdev, a resident of D Road. A resident of A Road points out that the area houses several colleges and eateries, which draw a crowd. "In the evening, the roads leading to Sydenham College get congested due to double parking," he says.

Kawal Shahpuri, a resident of C Road who has been championing the cause of redevelopment for a long time, calls double-parking a perennial nuisance. He says that though residents support redevelopment, authorities are not taking the proposition seriously.

Deputy municipal commissioner of Zone I Harshad Kale says it is the traffic police's job to regulate double parking. He adds that BMC is trying to create alternate parking spaces to be put to use at night. "A few multiplexes and commercial buildings are willing to lend their spots when not in use," says Kale. He added that a parking authority has also been created which will create a database of all slots in the city and suburbs.

"The issue of double parking is not limited to south Mumbai. The entire city is facing the problem," says police inspector Ajay Kshirsagar of the region's traffic division. He in turn blames the BMC, saying roads are dug up by them for civic works and especially for metro projects, which in turn affects traffic. "People are not willing to use the pay and park system and they park their vehicles anywhere," he concludes.