Jai Hind: Proud to be an Indian

A local train packed to capacity, with people hanging out of the doorway, and perched atop the train. This is a sight most Mumbaikars are well accustomed to. Efforts by the civic body to somehow reduce the congestion have so far been unfruitful. More trains have been introduced, the BEST (Brihan Mumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking) has upgraded its fleet, innumerable flyovers have been constructed and the number of tracks has also been doubled at some locations. Despite all this, the sardine like situation prevails. So, what else can be done to ensure that we Mumbaikars enjoy a more “breathable” ride?

Firstly, the reasons for the overburdening of infrastructure need to be analysed. The amount of private vehicles on the roads of the city has exponentially increased. Flyovers have been constructed at various locations, but more flyovers will only mean more cars on them. The BEST has now introduced buses on various routes, but the potholes and constant digging up of roads has meant that people no longer want to travel by bus. The sorry state of most of Mumbai’s roads has ensured that the public buses are constantly incurring losses.

Then there are the local trains. Emergence of BPOs (Business Process Outsourcing) and call centres in various parts of the city have generated an influx of people in search of employment the likes of which have never before been witnessed. Add to this the population that deviates away from the buses and chooses trains and you are left with jam packed metallic worms snaking through the city.

The only way that congestion can be reduced on the roads is by ensuring that more people use public transport buses. A very simple way of achieving this is to reduce the number of cars that are allowed to run on Mumbai’s roads. Also, by levying taxes on those who use private cars for entering business districts, people will automatically start using buses.

The metro rail that is being laid is a step in the right direction, but not big enough. Surveys show that the capacity of the metro must be at least four times that which is planned, to take the load off the existing trains. The overground and underground network must complement each other, and so, must be connected at various nodal points along the routes.

So, all said and done, a lot of infrastructural as well as techno-politic upgrades need to be implemented in order to guarantee a comfortable ride to the average Mumbaikar. The special case of the ‘rush hour’ needs to be tackled as well. Only the widening of roads and increasing the number of railway lines is useless, if more people are not drawn toward the public transport system. Not many other cities in the world can boast of having a trustworthy and massive public transport system like that of Mumbai. It is time that this system not only becomes efficient, but also world class.