Mumbai’s Infrastructure Push: Progress or Pain?

While grand projects promise relief, poor planning leaves commuters stuck in chaos.

Bollywood has long serenaded Mumbai as the city of dreams. From Aye Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yahan to Bombay Meri Jaan, songs have celebrated its resilience, its spirit and its energy. Migrants still pour in, lured by jobs and opportunities, and the city continues to embrace them. Yet its generosity has come at a cost: infrastructure has failed to keep pace with demand. For the millions who commute daily, the frustration mounts not just at the sheer numbers but how poorly the authorities manage the very projects meant to ease the strain.

A freshly laid road outside a colony is dug up weeks later to lay a water pipe or cable. A metro staircase is designed to land on a highway median, only for the median itself to be demolished during road widening. Such duplication has become the trademark of Mumbai’s development story. Agencies rarely talk to one another; timelines are elastic and the infamous “chalta hai” attitude prevails.

That is not to say there is no progress. Metro pillars loom across the skyline, new flyovers take shape, and major roads are being rebuilt with promises of better drainage and stronger materials. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has launched one of the country’s most ambitious infrastructure drives, spanning metro lines, highways and urban renewal. But execution has been shoddy.

Ghodbunder Road illustrates the malaise. For residents of Thane and beyond, it is a lifeline into Mumbai. Yet it is notorious for potholes, jams and waterlogging. Trips that should take minutes stretch into hours each monsoon. Resurfacing is announced every year, but deadlines are missed with predictable regularity. Metro Line 4, running along the same corridor, has created further headaches as plans shift repeatedly and pedestrian access points clash with ongoing highway expansion. Instead of coordination, there is conflict between arms of the same authority, ensuring higher costs and longer delays.

The monorail offers an even starker warning. Once heralded as a modern solution, it has become a cautionary tale of poor planning and worse management. After years of patchy service, it has now been suspended indefinitely for an overhaul. In August, passengers were left stranded inside for hours without a proper rescue plan. That there were no casualties was mere luck. For those who relied on it, the suspension is nothing less than a betrayal.

Nor is the chaos limited to marquee projects. Road diversions during repair work are often announced at the last minute. Signage is inadequate, leaving drivers confused and jams multiplying. At Dahisar, one of the city’s key entry points, commuters confront potholes, waterlogging and crumbling infrastructure, even as political debates over relocating the check naka add to the uncertainty. Instead of presenting a gateway to India’s financial capital, these chokepoints showcase neglect.

Underlying all this is the absence of coordination. Metro projects, flyovers, drainage upgrades and road repairs are executed in silos. The left hand rarely knows what the right is doing. The fiasco in Nagpur, where a flyover ramp was built into a house balcony, is not an outlier but a symptom of systemic dysfunction. The monsoon exposes these flaws brutally. Roads crumble within months of being laid. Asphalt peels, potholes mushroom, and waterlogging cripples movement. Temporary patches last barely a season. Durable solutions require better materials, proper drainage and stricter supervision but short-termism prevails. Citizens have resigned themselves to this cycle of collapse and repair, year after year.

Delays are another constant. Contractors miss deadlines because of shortages, technical glitches or red tape. Penalties are announced but rarely enforced with vigour. Each postponement chips away at public trust. Worse still is the lack of communication. Closure of roads, diversions or bans on heavy vehicles are often declared abruptly, leaving commuters trapped in snarls without explanation. During festivals or peak travel, chaos is guaranteed. For a city that powers India’s economy, such lapses feel indefensible.

A deeper imbalance compounds matters. Authorities trumpet new projects but neglect the maintenance of old ones. Gleaming metro corridors dominate headlines, but basic upkeep of roads, check nakas and drainage systems is overlooked. The result is predictable: shiny infrastructure alongside collapsing essentials.

Yet no one doubts Mumbai’s need for expansion. Without metro lines, flyovers and better roads, the city would grind to a halt. The question is not whether to build, but how. Execution matters as much as vision. Development that exacts years of pain before offering relief risks exhausting public patience. Every hour lost in traffic is an hour stolen from family or work, an hour of stress or an hour inhaling polluted air. The uncertainty of how long a commute will take is itself corrosive.

Residents do not oppose progress; they oppose being treated as collateral damage. What they seek is humane development: realistic timelines, genuine coordination, honest communication and steady upkeep of what already exists. Authorities would do well to listen to locals, who know better than consultants which spots flood first, which junctions clog daily and which diversions confound drivers. Their input could save money, time and credibility.

Mumbai stands at a crossroads. Its growth cannot be halted and its infrastructure needs are undeniable. But ambition without accountability risks turning dreams into burdens. Unless officials learn to match vision with empathy, the songs that once celebrated Mumbai’s spirit may soon give way to laments about its daily grind. For now, the road to a better city remains under construction - literally and figuratively.

(The writer is a political observer. Views personal.)