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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.

Cry Freedom!

Mir Yar Baloch, a hitherto unknown activist globally, has thrust himself into the geopolitical limelight by declaring Balochistan independent from Pakistan. From his perch in exile, he has cast the gauntlet not only at Islamabad but also into the court of the world’s great powers, urging formal recognition of the putative Republic of Balochistan.


To understand the weight of that declaration, one must consider the history of Balochistan’s fractious relationship with the Pakistani state. When British India was carved in 1947, Balochistan’s princely rulers sought autonomy, briefly declaring independence. But Pakistan annexed the region by force in 1948, setting the stage for decades of insurgency. Five major uprisings have since scarred its arid terrain. The most recent, ignited after the 2006 killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti, a revered tribal leader, still simmers.


Mir Yar Baloch is not the first to call for secession, but he is the most forthright in framing it for the digital age. A writer, human rights activist and self-styled diplomat of the Free Baloch Movement, he has harnessed social media to globalise the Baloch cause. His slogan, ‘Tum Maroge Hum Niklenge, Hum Nasal BachanyNikle Hain’ has struck a chord among the Baloch diaspora. He has requested India to host a Baloch embassy in New Delhi and demanded the UN deploy peacekeepers to the province.


Balochistan has suffered more than any other province under Pakistan’s military-dominated establishment. Enforced disappearances, mass graves and air strikes are common in its restive districts. Baloch nationalists argue that Pakistan’s Punjabi elite has extracted the region’s natural wealth while giving little in return. The gas fields of Sui, which power much of urban Pakistan, have brought scant development to the Bugti heartland where they lie. Today, the vast copper and gold reserves of RekoDiq threaten to repeat that pattern.


What raises the geopolitical stakes is Balochistan’s location. It borders both Iran and Afghanistan and provides Pakistan access to the Arabian Sea. China has poured billions into developing the port of Gwadar as part of its Belt and Road Initiative, hoping to funnel oil and goods from the Middle East across Pakistan to Xinjiang. The Baloch insurgency is a direct threat to all this. Locals complain of being shut out from jobs and land, while Islamabad insists many have prospered from land sales and infrastructure contracts. As is often the case in Pakistan, both narratives contain some truth and conceal much more.


India, for its part, has long watched Balochistan with a mixture of quiet interest and strategic ambiguity. Since 2016, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the plight of Balochistan in his Independence Day speech, whispers of Indian support for Baloch separatists have grown louder. Mir Yar Baloch’s declaration and his open support for India’s demand that Pakistan vacate PoK has added fuel to that fire.


There are risks that Mir Yar Baloch could be dismissed as a ‘fringe’ provocateur by Western powers wary of new borders and averse to antagonising Pakistan, notwithstanding its record of harnessing terrorists. Yet in a region where identities are fiercely contested, his voice may resonate longer than expected, especially given that Indian strikes during Operation Sindoor have laid Pakistan’s defences totally prostrate. India, emboldened by its show of force and growing international clout, will undeniably find strategic value in amplifying voices like Baloch’s. In a region where empires have fallen and maps have shifted, Balochistan’s claim, long buried under boots and silence, is once again on the table.

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