'Is BKC connector only for the rich?'

The longdelayed and muchawaited BKC Connector to Chunabhatti opened on Sunday but to the ire and outrage of bikers and auto drivers Probably the two most prominent modes of transport in the city after local trains twowheelers and autorickshaws have been banned from using the public road Also while buses are allowed trucks and trailers have been banned from the bridgeA sign at the bottom of the connector stated that trucks trailers two and threewheelers are not allowed on the connector However buses have been allowedThe BKC Connector which starts from GBlock of Bandra Kurla Complex BKC crosses the Mithi River LBS Marg Central Railway tracks and VN Mankikar Road leading to Chunabhatti railway station It then extends and crosses the Harbour Railway tracks passes through the Somaiya Trust Ground and joins the Eastern Express Highway The estimated cost of the project was Rs 156 crore and was later escalated to over Rs 200 croreCorporator Kaptan Malik seen with a party worker near the BKCndashChunabhatti flyover demanded that twowheelers be allowedI understand that bikers often do not follow lane discipline but why no autorickshaws They are stable vehicles and authorities should consider letting them ply It will take much of the load off Dharavi junction and the LBS Road AV Shenoy transport expert and activist and member of Mumbai Mobility Forum saidTraffic police chief said that the traffic pattern would be studied first before a rethink on the banMumbai Automens Union president Shashank Sharad Rao also said that it was unfair to keep autos off the bridge This is an injustice to all the officegoers who use autorickshaws he told middayLocal NCP corporator Kaptan Malik held a bikerally on the BKC connector on Sunday evening after it was opened for public use The government delayed its inauguration as there was no one to inaugurate And the chief minister decided to tweet about the opening on Sunday instead of an official announcement The bike rally was in protest to the governments behaviour and the banning of twowheelers said Malik Once a government is formed we will take our demands to the concerned ministerAsif Shaikh Lognadan Thevar and Irfan MachiwalaMumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority MMRDA spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar confirmed the prohibition and added that MMRDA was only following polices directives We are just following the directives of the Mumbai Traffic Police who advised us on traffic movement he saidJoint Commissioner of Police Traffic Madhukar Pandey said allowing two and threewheelers along with cars could be dangerous and that the bridge had to be assessed first We are trying to enforce the policy adopted for the Eastern Freeway As it is an elevated road allowing movement of these vehicles could prove dangerous We will study the traffic movement Once we have a pattern in place we will take a call on two and threewheelers As of now it is a strict noMadhukar Pandeyjoint commissioner of police trafficBikers and autorickshaw drivers reacted with anger Irfan Machiwala a resident of Mahim said Allowing bikers will reduce congestion Alternative roads see heavy traffic The length of this flyover is also short just 16km How is it a concern that twowheelers will cause accidentsMangesh Kakade a resident of Chembur said Have they built the connector only for the rich who have cars What is the facility for the aam aadmi It is agreed that there are some twowheeler drivers who do not adhere to lane discipline But because of some should everyone suffer Why not take strict action against offendersDilip Kawathkar MMRDA spokespersonLognandan Tevar a resident of Chunabhatti said Why are those who do not own fourwheelers being treated in an unfair manner We waited all this time for the connector and now we are banned because we ride twowheelersAsif Shaikh a resident of Kurla said Dont twowheeler riders deserve convenient travel This is bizarre There can be stringent supervision of rash ridersAutorickshaw driver Irfan with whom midday spoke near the connector on Sunday said it can also save fuel We lose unnecessary gasfuel in traffic jams at Dharavi Tjunction LBS Road and near SCLR Users of autorickshaws have to pay high fares The connector would have provided muchneeded convenienceMangesh Kakade Chembur residentAnother autorickshaw driver at BKC Rashid Sayed said that this was zulm on autorickshaws We have permits and badges and yet we get bannedThe BEST on the other hand announced on Sunday that it will introduce buses on the connector in the next few days We will definitely run buses We will survey the routes along the way which could be diverted or introduce new ones a BEST spokesperson saidCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates