Mumbai: Andheri residents take matters into own hands

Locals brainstorm: form school bus corridors and clear hawkers blocking traffic, while also exploring other ways to ease congestion after shutting down of Gokhale Road bridge on Sunday midnight

From forming corridors for school buses and emergency vehicles and clearing alternative routes to meeting with the chief minister, Andheri residents were brimming with suggestions to bring ease to commuters as the Gokhale Road bridge was shut on Sunday at midnight. An online petition has also been started, requesting speedy construction of the bridge. Around 2,000 citizens have already signed it within a day. 

In view of the closure of the bridge, a social media group was formed with over 500 residents. It has listed out priorities and suggestions which the authorities and locals can collectively take up.

Also read: Gokhale Bridge closure: All alternative routes get jammed on Day 1

Dhaval Shah, citizen activist 

“The suggestions are crowd-sourced and we have been compiling them. These are based on the experience of people who have been commuting in this area,” said Dhaval Shah, a citizen activist and co-founderof the Lokhandwala-Oshiwara Citizens Association.

One of the residents said, “A delegation must meet the CM as he is the PWD minister, asking him to use the best technology to shorten the time as much as possible to reopen the bridge.”

The closure of Gokhale Road bridge led to congestion on the internal roads in Andheri West on Monday. Pic/Ashish Rane

Another resident said, “We can see if we can file a PIL or something similar to ensure that the bridge is made in time because in the past we have seen that most of the projects get delayed, which leads to cost escalation.”

The suggestions from the residents included removing/relocating hawkers from Irla Lane, removing illegally parked vehicles, sharing autos from the stretch of SV Road from Andheri subway to Andheri station. Some also suggested having additional traffic cops to manage traffic, managing vehicular and pedestrian traffic at various places near Andheri station. Another suggestion called for ensuring that all digging and maintenance work for various utilities on SV Road and the corresponding road in the east are prioritised and done immediately. It also included that the authorities should ensure all signals on SV Road and the corresponding road in the east are functional and the potholes on these roads are repaired.

A resident said that the authorities should close the gaps in the divider on SV Road to prevent vehicles from making u-turns.

2,000
Approx. no. of people who signed the petition so far

500
Approx. no. of members on the group

Citizens’ suggestion

. Opening of route from Chakala junction through Western Express Highway to Andheri station, allowing right turn from Darpan signal
. Allowing right turn from SV Road to Andheri subway for vehicles coming from Andheri station side
. Milan Subway Flyover can be made one-way in the morning and then switching flow of traffic to the other direction after 2 pm. The road below the flyover can be same
. Free access for pedestrians for east-west railway bridge at Andheri station
. Priority should be given to school buses by creating corridors 
. Similar corridor for ambulances too. 

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