‘Half of my life in Mumbai will be spent in travelling’

Mira Road resident Anup Sinha, who works in a financial services company, has to travel long hours to visit clients every day.

The destination isn’t always the same, but the ordeal takes up so much of his time that he often reaches late not only for these meetings, but also misses out family engagements.

Sinha’s complaint is that despite Mumbai being equipped with different modes of public transport, there is no guarantee that he will reach the desired location on time.

“Once, from Mira Road I travelled to Titwala to meet a client, but I was late by 15 minutes and he had already left,” he says. “It was a crucial meeting, very important for my company. So, the next day, I had to repeat the 3-hour journey again. Such occasions have come several times, being late for a client meeting. I’m currently involved in the collection of loan repayment and it is not so easy to deal with defaulters and when commuting delays us, we lose a lot of money that is supposed to be collected. Travelling long distances criss-crossing the city makes it very difficult,” he says.

Sinha’s dilemma is a familiar one. And its something that most Mumbaikars have faced on a daily basis. Rajni Singh is one of them. “I spend four hours commuting from my house in Mira Road to my office in Fort, everyday. It is my heartiest desire to learn music, but travelling has taken up all my spare time. Since I am a media consultant, I’m required to attend events. On such occasions, I have missed many family functions. I’ve often contemplated buying a house on rent, closer to office, but it’s not affordable.”

It’s a typical catch-22 situation for most Mumbaikars -either move into an expensive house on rent closer to office, or stay in an affordable flat in the suburbs which although comfortable, stretches our commuting time in a big way. The choice is difficult and most tend to choose the latter, trusting Mumbai’s transport.
What’s more, Mumbai’s rising population, limited land and skyrocketing real estate prices have challenged our travel - trains, buses and roads are choc-a-bloc. But despite choosing a favorable mode of travel, bad time management may mean that you miss out important appointments, social gatherings and family celebrations.

According to the Quality of Life survey by DNA and AZ Research, a significant proportion of adults in the city cancel their prior appointments, on about 10-25% of occasions. The frequency increases, the more deeper you go into the suburbs.

Although the Metro is being planned for the city, Kalyan resident Bibhash Das is not so sure if its going to help. “The way things are going, I think half of my life will be spent in travelling. By the time the Metro is ready and fully functional, the population of this city is going to become twice of what it is now.”

There are some, like actor Yash Pandit, who have to commute from Andheri to Naigaon everyday and rarely socialise with friends as much as used to before. Bad traffic on Mumbai’s roads takes up a lot of his time and he reaches work, stressed out and flustered. “Even if I get a holiday for a day I don’t feel like going out anywhere, since I hate the idea of travelling in such traffic. I may attend various family functions, only if I’m not required to commute for four hours everyday,” he says.

Kandivli resident Nasir Engineer, an Arts student, feels that he could probably have given more time to studies and pursued his hobbies if he didn’t have to spend a lot of time commuting.
“My college is in Churchgate and during my exams, I am pressurised not due to studies, but by the prospect ofreaching college on time. The peak hour rush in trains is scary,” says Engineer.

Indeed, the morning hours in trains are known to lead to mishaps where desperate commuters have slipped off trains. Even using your own vehicle for driving during peak hours itself is a task in itself. Road rage is a common phenomena and the recent strike by autorickshaw and taxi unions, in addition to their refusal to ply to desired locations is not helping matters either.

The Metro  promise
The Metro will run two types of trains: four-coach (capacity:1,500) and six-coach (capacity: 2,250). Once commissioned, a commute from Versova to Ghatkopar, that previously took about 2 hours, will take under 20 minutes. It will be designed to cater to six lakh passengers from day one, to be scaled up to 11-12 lakh passengers by 2041.

Will the metro change your life?

‘Yes, Metro will fragment the crowds’
I am sure after the arrival of Metro, commuting in Mumbai will be easier. Not only will it reduce commuting time, it will also fragment the crowd. If I have to go to Andheri from Ghatkopar, I would prefer taking the Metro rather than the train as it has longer routes. Moreover it would interest only upper class of society as ticket prices would be higher.”
Vikram Tanwar, Dombivli

‘No, it won’t do what it did in Delhi’

The Metro has been a boon for Delhi but it won’t ease commuting chaos in Mumbai. Firstly, it does not cover all of Mumbai. Secondly, private vehicles still dominate the roads, so it would not reduce traffic on the streets. Moreover, if people would like to park their car and then commute by Metro, it does become quite an expensive affair. Moreover its construction is  slower than the speed at which people are migrating to Mumbai.”
Vibhor Shrivastva, Mira Road