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By:

Minal Sancheti

2 May 2026 at 12:26:53 pm

Lost in Transport

Mumbai’s grand transport infrastructure is undermined by potholes, Poor discipline and a last-mile gaps that keeps it crawling Mumbai: It is morning time, and Pawan Khandelwal is all set to leave for work. A creative lead at an ad agency in Malad, Mumbai, Khandelwal should take 12 to 15 minutes to reach the office, but that rarely happens because of the traffic, poor road quality and lack of civic sense among co-drivers on the road. He mostly ends up reaching the office in 30 to 40 minutes....

Lost in Transport

Mumbai’s grand transport infrastructure is undermined by potholes, Poor discipline and a last-mile gaps that keeps it crawling Mumbai: It is morning time, and Pawan Khandelwal is all set to leave for work. A creative lead at an ad agency in Malad, Mumbai, Khandelwal should take 12 to 15 minutes to reach the office, but that rarely happens because of the traffic, poor road quality and lack of civic sense among co-drivers on the road. He mostly ends up reaching the office in 30 to 40 minutes. Khandelwal firmly believes that road construction is not a major issue for traffic. “The road under construction is not a big issue because they usually don’t take very long to repair the roads. But even after their work is done, it is not done perfectly. At times when they are digging up the road for other purposes, they often leave a bump or a pothole,” he said. He gives an example, “One can see it on the western express highway. There are so many bumps. We call it a highway, but we can’t even drive at 15 km/h because it is not fixed properly.” He also blames people for not following traffic rules, which adds to the problem. Traffic Woes Although there are coastal roads and metros available, the traffic still seems to be a problem for many residents. A media professional and a daily commuter, Charlene Flanagan has been travelling in Mumbai for many years now. There is not much difference in her experience of the traffic congestion. From her experience, she believes the coastal roads and metros have not completely accomplished the mission of curbing traffic congestion. She says, “As a resident of Mumbai and as a person with a valid driver’s licence, I would say the traf f ic hasn’t really changed. It is still as congested, and whether the coastal roads have helped depends on the time of the day you leave and whether you are going against the traffic or along with the traffic.” The pedestrians also face problems. Saloni Mehta, a theatre artiste, says, “I prefer walking to my destinations. For example, I live in Versova, and if I want to see a play in the Prithvi Theatre, I will take a half-hour walk. However, this one time, I could not reach the venue, not just because of the traffic but also because there were no pavements left to walk on. The roads are dug up, and every road is just half a road.” Mumbai’s average speed covered is 5.2 km per 15 minutes. During the peak traffic hours in the morning, when most people travel to their workplace, the average speed is 18.5 km/h. It is important to understand the issue and address it with a solution. Sudhir Badami, an author of the book ‘Matter of Equitability - Making Commuting in Mumbai Enviable’, explains why people still prefer to use cars over metros, “The metro line 3 has definitely taken away some car users. But it has not taken away sufficient numbers of car users to make a difference in the state of road congestion. The reason behind this is essentially the last-mile connectivity in areas where the Aqua Line or Line 7 operates, especially in suburban areas. In the city area, it is supported by good BEST services on the one hand, and taxis being available near the metro stations on the other hand. But most car users still opt for using their cars, as public transport currently does provide assured exclusivity, comfort and good frequency, not forgetting last mile connectivity. The Coastal Road sees very few cars compared to the number of cars on Mumbai’s Roads. Badami, as a transportation analyst, says, “Mumbai has approximately 16 Lakhs motor cars, out of which only about 55,000 seem to be using coastal roads. It is such a minuscule proportion for whom so much has been spent. This is largely because in the city, people don’t go from one end of the city to the other end. They normally start from in between and go somewhere in between. If there is not much time saving for the shorter stretches, then people are not likely to take it, and there will be continued congestion on city roads.” “In general, the necessity of the last-mile connectivity is an important part, but the greater part will be how to get car users onto the public transport,” says Badami. Public transport must provide near exclusivity, comfort and safety to a car-using commuter for migration to take place. This is where the importance of last-mile connectivity is felt. Air Pollution The slow-moving traffic also adds to the air pollution in the city several times more than when they are moving at optimum speeds, he says. Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Mumbai, Anil Kumbhare, denies that there is much traffic congestion in Mumbai as compared to five years back. He credits the coastal roads for curbing the traffic. He says, “Earlier, there used to be bumper-to bumper traffic near Haji Ali. That has come down drastically. As coastal roads shape, the traffic will go down.” He also adds that there is traffic congestion in the morning hours as people are travelling for work. But there is no traffic jam. Although coastal roads have helped, there are still pockets of the city that face traffic congestion every day. This can be solved with careful planning and execution.

BJP to continue opposing Kamra’s “Fake Narrative”

Mumbai: Though the Shiv Sena appears to have soften its stand against comedian Kunal Kamra, the BJP has not softened its tone against him. Moreover, the party leaders say that Kamra is part of a larger network that has been spreading fake narrative and the party's fight against it shall continue.


Shiv Sena workers vandalised the hotel where comedian Kunal Kamra’s show was organized, yet the party’s approach against the artist has turned sober. The BJP, that rushed to help Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on the first day, on the contrary, isn't backing off. This has led to questions about the intentions of the party.


Shinde, on Tuesday said that while he doesn’t support the vandalism by his party workers he knows that some of the party workers are very sensitive and cannot be controlled every time. The Deputy CM also pointed at the fact that Kamra had been targeting individuals under the pretext of cracking jokes which is why he is always seen embroiled in some or the other controversy. While underlining that even airlines have imposed a ban on him, Shinde also stressed that freedom of expression doesn’t mean levelling baseless allegations and arbitrariness.


The BJP, however, isn't deviating CM Fadnavis' statement that spreading lies and defaming others for personal gains shall face action. BJP MLA Ram Kadam reiterated the argument against Kamra that he has crossed all limits and hence is being targeted.


“It is the arrogance of a foolish person who makes controversial statements only for publicity for which the studio where he made these remarks has been bulldozed,” Kadam added while justifying the state government’s action in the case and added, “If any other studio in Maharashtra allows him to perform and illegal construction is found there, it will also be demolished.”


Calling Kamra “anti-Constitutional”, Kadam added, “This kind of person speaks against the prime minister, the home minister and even the judiciary. These are anti-constitutional elements. Legal action will be taken against him. If he performs in any studio in Maharashtra, its illegal construction will be bulldozed.”


While justifying the party’s tough stand against the comedian, Kadam also accused Kamra of building his career on anti-BJP rhetoric. “He is not alone. There are many like him,” he added.


Another senior BJP leader, Vishwas Pathak too said that the party shall not bow down to anyone who is seen spreading fake narrative.  According to party’s internal analysis of things, the 2014 victory is attributed to young population that had grown up with the social media and party’s machinery that cleverly used the new media to expose the fake narrative spread by the nexus of politicians, media and urban Naxals. The trio, however, took over the social media during the demonetization in 2016 since when several likes of Kamra have popped up. The party is not opposed to entertainment, parody or comedy. But, it shall certainly oppose any attempt to spread fake narrative, remains the BJP's stand which makes it clear that the issue will pull on.

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