09 August,2023 07:18 AM IST | Mumbai | Prajakta Kasale
A man climbs over the barricade as others squeeze through a gap, at Marine Drive, on Sunday. Pic/Ashish Raje
Pedestrians have been finding gaps in between or even climbing over the newly installed barricades on the median at Marine Drive. Local residents, who had pointed this to BMC when it planned to install the barrier, have demanded that at least one more barrier rod be put in between existing ones to close the gap. They have also demanded more crossings for pedestrians.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) spent Rs 82 lakh on installing the barricades, which have proven to be of no use in stopping pedestrians. The barricade has been installed on the divider from NCPA to Princess Street Flyover. The project was taken to stop pedestrians from crossing the road. The work started two weeks ago and mid-day had reported how the move wouldn't give any results, as the same solution hasn't worked out at Girgaon Chowpatty. As expected, people are seen making their way through the gaps or climbing over the barricade to cross the road.
Though the civic body said the decision to install the barriers was taken following requests from the Marine Drive traffic division and a residents' association, the latter was not happy with the installation. The Marine Drive Citizens' Association had written several times to the BMC on the matter, and after installation started, it expressed displeasure as it was not the best way to tackle the issue.
The barricade installed on the divider from NCPA to Princess Street Flyover, at Marine Drive. Pic/Ashish Raje
Ashok Gupta, president of the Marine Drive Citizens' Association said, "Visitors to the Marine Drive promenade are careless. They do not care for their own lives and that of motorists. After great persuasion, the residents of Marine Drive got the BMC to install the barrier on the median. But a faulty design was used. However, we had to accept it since they had installed something for the safety of people after years of persuasion. People still keep crossing over this new barrier and sometimes even create gaps in it."
"We requested them to increase the cement median by one more foot so pedestrians won't be able to climb on it. But they didn't do so. These barricades will restrict the view, besides they will not serve the purpose as people will find a gap between them to cross the road," Gupta had told mid-day when the BMC began installing the barrier.
The association has now suggested solutions. "The contractor should fix one more connector strip so that the barriers cannot be separated from each other. The strips should be painted with a single colour and additional crossings created at suitable and busy intersections so that people are not forced to cross from just anywhere and they don't have to walk a great distance," said Gupta.
Another resident said, "The BMC and other government agencies should take local residents into confidence before any changes are made in the area so that residents can give valid inputs for proper implementation of any such proposal." mid-day had done a series in February on the BMC's beautification that involved working with dividers, actually causing issues for pedestrians.
Transport expert A V Shenoy said, "It is necessary to provide pedestrian crossings at intervals of about 300 metres. If this is not feasible then either a subway or FOB should be provided. You can't expect pedestrians to walk 1km to cross the road. The same practice should be followed at Worli Seaface and high traffic density roads like WEH, EEH, SCLR, JVLR, etc." Jaydeep More, assistant commissioner of A ward, said that he has taken note of the issue and instructed the maintenance team to look into it.
