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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.

The curious cases of tainted NCP leaders

Updated: Nov 12, 2024

Mumbai: NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal has denied that he switched over the ruling alliance to escape from the case filed by Enforcement Directorate. Bhujbal is not an isolated leader who is under the ED lens. There are six top NCP leaders who are facing similar charges.


NCP

Ajit Pawar

The deputy chief minister stands accused for his involvement in a scam in Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB). It is alleged that there were irregularities in loan disbursements to cooperative sugar factories and that loans were sanctioned despite having financial irregularities. In many cases, loans were sanctioned without any collateral guarantees. Probe in all these cases have been slowed down after joining hands with the BJP.



NCP

Hasan Mushrif

He is accused of a money laundering case related to Sar Senapati Santaji Ghorpade Sugar Factory. It’s a sugar factory set up in 2011 in the Kolhapur district. The factory is said to be operated and controlled by family members and relatives of Hasan Mushrif. His sons are directors in these factories. The ED alleged that Mushrif had appealed to farmers to contribute Rs 10,000 to raise capital. The ED further claimed that the capital was collected from 40,000 farmers, but they were not given share certificates as shareholders. Instead, they were given sugar cards and other benefits, including sugar at a nominal rate.


NCP

Praful Patel

Patel is an accused in a money laundering case involving Iqbal Mirchi, an aide of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. The ED launched a probe against Patel after his signatures were found on the documents which were also signed by the wife of Mirchi. Patel, however, denied the allegations of any business links with Mirchi or his wife. The agency alleged that Patel’s Millennium Developers Pvt Ltd constructed Ceejay House in 2006-07 and its third and fourth floors were transferred to Mirchi’s wife Hazra Iqbal in 2007 “towards beneficial interest of Mirchi in the land” on which Ceejay House was built.


NCP

Sunil Tatkare

He was booked for corruption in the alleged multi-crore irrigation scam. His name appeared in the chargesheet in 2017, mentioning that the probe is incomplete. While the ACB was initially probing the case, the ED was subsequently roped. In 2015, both the ACB and ED were pulled up by the court for their slow progress in investigating the corruption charges against Tatkare.



NCP

Nawab Malik

Arrested by the ED officials on charges of money laundering in the case registered against underworld don and fugitive Dawood Ibrahim and his aides. The ED officials reached Malik’s residence and conducted a search operation at his residence. He is out on bail.

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