Mumbai: 15 years and five govts later, Bandra station remains a dump

The chaos outside Bandra station east on Sunday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Five governments have changed hands in the state over 15 years since the first attempt to ease commuter movement at Bandra East station began, but today, it seems to be stuck while the city has developed all around it. The condition of Bandra station on the east side remains deplorable, and worsens further every day with endless traffic woes, commuter chaos, the auto mafia, lack of adequate civic infrastructure and a demolished skywalk with no sign of reconstruction.

Despite complaints, there seems to be no attention paid to commuters woes at Bandra station in the east despite it being a stone's throw from the Bandra court, a police chowkie and even Matoshree, the home of former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. Bandra east is where a SATIS (Station Area Traffic Improvement Scheme) is much required.

It was after a comprehensive railway station audit by mid-day in 2018 that Bandra station got a streamlined plan and more foot overbridges and commuter space on platforms. As of 2023, the station's plan has got into effect and most of the elements of additional bridges with escalators, elevators are in place, with the station in the west also restored.

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A team of senior police officers held a counselling session for all auto drivers outside the station recently. Pic/Anurag Ahire

While in Bandra west there has also been some organisation of auto lanes and bus lanes, chaos continues at Bandra east where there is maximum pedestrian movement. Since the skywalk was demolished there is more chaos as pedestrians, autos and buses crowd during rush hour in an unorganised space due to the presence of a single narrow footpath with encroachments on it.

Despite a huge rise in the commuter numbers after business hub Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) came up, the authorities never sustained aggressive efforts to match infrastructure there. The first efforts to decongest were put in 15 years ago in 2008 when Vilasrao Deshmukh was the chief minister. A 1.3-km-long skywalk, the first of its kind in Mumbai, was built at Bandra east in two parts at a cost of Rs 22.90 crore.

The first part comprised an almost half-a-km-long (494-metre-long and 4-m-wide) walkway between Bandra station and Bandra court at a cost of R9.84 crore, and a longer one (970-metre and 4-m-wide) linked to the same skywalk from HDIL office to Kalanagar at a cost of R 13.06 crore. It was so popular that the entire stretch of Bandra skywalk was used by about 10,000 pedestrians daily. But after a structural audit of the bridge by the VJTI in 2019, it was declared unsafe and pulled down, merely 10 years after its construction.

Since 2008, there were five successive state governments, but none has bothered to look into the issues of commuters at Bandra east. The residents have now even filed a PIL regarding the chaos outside the station on the east side. While the BMC had put up tenders for the skywalk, they postponed it further after they had to upgrade the conditions due to proximity of saline water, which would now require a sturdier bridge. The Bombay High Court in March 2023 directed the BMC to urgently provide a skywalk in Bandra east.

Bandra-Kurla Complex is a planned business district, located in Bandra East. It is the most prominent commercial hub in Maharashtra after Mumbai's Nariman Point and Cuffe Parade. On a regular basis, hundreds of commuters travel across the stretch but finding an auto at the end of a tiring day is nothing short of a nightmare for them.

Bullying auto drivers

Once a commuter lands from the bridge at Bandra east, there are auto drivers shouting at the top of their voices and bullying commuters to take the autos. The drivers block the staircase to the station, making a stampede-like situation during peak hours an everyday affair. It is not just the BKC crowd, but also those going out of Mumbai to Bandra Terminus who get down here are confused and tricked by the illegal auto mafia.

Blocked bus stops

The BEST bus stops opposite the railway station are either blocked or buses curtailed there with commuters forced to take autos, and the administration unwilling to intervene. Whenever complaints peak, there are cosmetic changes done, but no long-term solution is found.

Traffic chaos

The autos create so much of traffic chaos, including wrong side driving, that the situation goes out of hand. A number of autos are also parked in the middle of the road blocking traffic movement. The policemen on duty are helpless or ignorant of the action.

No CCTVs, police ignorance

The Bandra station area has court premises a stone's throw away, and a police chowkie with senior officials sitting there, but surprisingly they seem to ignore all the issues or have given up on the auto mafia, leaving citizens in the lurch.

What can be done?

The authorities can create an elevated deck outside Bandra east station segregating BEST and other public transport buses, while keeping the auto and other private vehicle traffic on the lower deck. Pedestrians can get their skywalk back. The work on this is in process with the BMC now proposing an open-to-air skywalk.

Rs 22.90crore
Cost of construction of the now demolished skywalk at Bandra

Official speak

MMRDA has assured that they are looking into the matter. "Station Area Traffic Improvement Scheme (SATIS) is definitely needed comprehensively in addition to Multi-Modal Integration (MMI). The MMRDA is already working on the MMI," said SVR Srinivas, metropolitan commissioner, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

Mumbai traffic police said they are on the job to improve Bandra east and earlier this week took action. A team of senior police officers held a counselling session for all auto drivers outside the station and will monitor the situation for a few days. Commuters were impressed with the action. "For the first time ever, we saw the Joint Commissioner of police (traffic) Pravinkumar Padwal take stock of this ugly situation. His team is trying to implement measures to ease our woes. Let's wait for next week and observe their execution. Hopefully there's some respite ahead," commuter activist Sri Jain Mahajan said.

However, the former MMRDA commissioner does not think SATIS could work for Bandra east station.

"SATIS is fine, but it is not a magic wand. Before we go ahead with SATIS, we should check if it has worked well where it has been actually implemented and that is in Thane. What has been done in Thane is segregation of public transport buses on the upper deck and autos at the lower level, which leads to further congestion for pedestrians. Auto unions in the city are powerful and they usually do not listen. What can be done best is improve on the existing bus infra by increasing the frequency of Bandra and Kurla buses.

The problem is at the Kurla-end where the bus needs to take a long detour. This is where bicycles on rent like Yulu, etc. would work well. When we introduced them, they used to get over in one hour. We can rope in more such companies for commuter benefit.

"If we could start more buses at least from LBS Road to Bandra, even that would be of help. Another way is to pedestrianize the crowded and narrow lanes. What I am basically saying is that instead of a cost-intensive solution like SATIS, there are multiple low-cost options are worth trying," former MMRDA Commissioner RA Rajeev said.

2008
When the Bandra skywalk was built

Commuters speak

"Recently, there was a report that Bandra west will have a planned traffic movement with full control over rickshaw/taxi operations. Why are Bandra East station and the terminus facing step motherly treatment and not the same treatment as Bandra West? In January 2023, I had tweeted a video where an auto rickshaw driver confessed that they have to bribe the police to operate at the terminus. Every possible authority was tagged on the video. But no action was seen on ground. Media reports continued to reiterate the pitiful state of Bandra terminus and Bandra east. Even before we plan SATIS, at least road resurfacing and a pothole free road could solve much of the problem. I think Bandra station and terminus are a cash cow for traffic and other departments along with the mafia in nearby slums. Even before SATIS is implemented, a simple method to penalise and bring the corrupt on record, could do wonders in changing the ground realities," Jitendra Gupta of the Citizens' Transport Committee said.

"A proper SATIS needs to be designed to segregate autos, taxis, BEST buses and pedestrians. If the space on ground is insufficient, then vertical segregation like in Thane West can be considered. In addition, proper arrangement should be made to connect Bandra East to Bandra Terminus e.g. skywalk/ subway/travellator. Also, the road from Bandra East to WEH needs to be cleared of encroachments and freed for traffic, both for vehicles and pedestrians," said senior transport expert with Mumbai Mobility Forum and Mumbai Vikas Samiti.

What about women's safety?

The area near Bandra east has also become an issue of women's safety. A lady commuter tweeted to former minister Aaditya Thackeray, suggesting that he go to Bandra east station undercover and see the situation for himself. "Aadityaji, the areas near u need more attention, Bandra-east station area..lawlessness and a crime area to the hilt..Can a woman travel alone in that area? u shd address concerns on women's safety..travel undercover and see the situation firsthand," commuter Tripti Mongia tweeted.