BMC wants more heavy vehicles to enter Mumbai 24*7

Currently, heavy vehicles are allowed in South Mumbai between midnight and 6 am. File pic

With the Shiv Sena firmly in power, its dream project, the Coastal Road, seems to be progressing at breakneck speed. The municipal corporation has asked the traffic police to let heavy vehicles, usually not allowed during the daytime, to ply in the city throughout the day to transport machinery and debris for the project.

An activist, however, has objected to the work saying it will not only create traffic jams in the city but also damage marine life. The Mumbai traffic police in January 2018 restricted the entry of heavy vehicles in the city to speed up vehicular movement. As per the directive, heavy vehicles are prohibited from entering and leaving from the city between 7 am and 11 am, and 5 pm and 9 pm. In south Mumbai, the movement of heavy vehicles is banned from 7 am till midnight. The restriction is applicable to each and every project, except the Metro construction. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sought a similar exception for the Coast Road work too.

The construction of the road that will link Princess Street and Worli resumed this month after a five-month break. Aiming to boost the work further, BMC officers, including Additional Municipal Commissioner Vijay Singal, met on Monday to discuss getting traffic restrictions relaxed and wrote to the traffic police requesting the same.

As of now, construction has begun at two points, Amarsons Gardens in Breach Candy and Worli. Around 100 big trucks come to Amarsons daily. "The reclamation work requires 600 trucks at each spot to transport heavy machinery and other material. Currently, heavy vehicles are allowed to ply in the city only between midnight and 6 am. The traffic police have given similar permission for the Metro project. The Coastal Road is equally important for the city," said a BMC officer. AMC Singhal said, "We have written to the traffic police to allow heavy vehicles to play for extended hours for the project. We are aware of the traffic situation and expect to conduct the work without affecting the traffic."

'Stupid plan'
Activists and residents have expressed concerns that the civic body is set to destroy marine biodiversity even before the next Supreme Court hearing in April 2020. So far, 6.25 per cent of the work has been completed. The heavy trucks they say will worsen the traffic on the city's already congested roads.

The Bombay High Court, on July 16, had stopped the work, stating that the project cannot be executed without environment clearances under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
"The Supreme Court hasn't given a final decision and the BMC will do maximum reclamation within these four months. The reclamation will harm marine biodiversity as well as the livelihood of the fishermen," said Shweta Wagh, one of the petitioners opposing the Coastal Road.

"The Coastal Road is a stupid plan. Reclamation will do more harm than any other project. It is quite a big scam and I don't know how the Supreme Court has given permission for this. That was very disappointing. If heavy vehicles ply in the city for 24 hours, the narrow lanes of South and Central Mumbai will get further congested," said Pravina Mecklai, art gallerist and South Mumbai resident.

600
No. of trucks needed each day at each site to transport machines, debris

2
No. of sites where work has started

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