Gokhale Bridge: Residents in a jam over hawkers, illegal parking

Residents of Andheri East and West have been complaining of increasing traffic jams. Among a host of reasons for this, prominent ones according to them are — increase in number of hawkers on SV Road, and illegal parking in Irla lane, which leads to Vile Parle flyover.

Mumbai: With Gokhale Bridge reopening pushed ahead once again, there appears to be no relief on the horizon for residents of Andheri East and West, who have been complaining of increasing traffic jams. Among a host of reasons for this, prominent ones according to them are — increase in number of hawkers on SV Road, and illegal parking in Irla lane, which leads to Vile Parle flyover.

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When Gokhale bridge was shut for repairs, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) through its press statement in November had said that a comprehensive plan was put in place by both the wards to ensure the area remains free from encroachment. This included removal of abandoned vehicles, removal of hanging cables from the area, putting up display boards about the closure of the bridge, installations of no parking boards and highlighting the zebra crossing in the area.

Moreover, additional manpower of 200 traffic wardens was deployed by the BMC to assist the traffic police in ensuring smooth flow of traffic.

Residents said that there has been a tremendous increase in the number of hawkers across the SV Road, near Andheri Station West. The spillage of hawkers on the roads in the past week has led to further jams.

An official from the K West ward’s encroachment department said, “I was recently transferred here, I will look into this issue. We will hold a meeting to plan and take necessary action on the hawkers.”

The K East and K West ward, comprising of areas in Andheri, Jogeshwari and Vile Parle, east and west both, and also areas such as Versova and Oshiwara has a combined population of nearly 1.6 million people as per the BMC.

It’s not just hawkers. Residents have also reported the issue of vehicles parked in no parking zones in Irla Lane, Andheri West. Residents said that not only office goers, but school children too are affected due to increasing traffic jams. In Andheri West, some roads leading to SV Road, are dug up for various works, leading to worsening of traffic.

Citizens recently have also reported that the presence of traffic police and wardens at Andheri Subway and the Vile Parle flyover has reduced compared to the initial days when the bridge was shut for traffic.

A senior official from the K East ward said, “We have been receiving complaints of traffic jams for the last few days and we are trying to figure out where exactly the issue is. There are only three roads that are taken up for reconstruction but none of them are major roads, these are small bylanes. We will look into it.”

VOICES:

I used to take Gokhale Bridge to travel to Andheri East, which used to take me 15-20 minutes. After the bridge was closed, my travel time has increased by 30 minutes. Shoppers park their vehicles haphazardly near that Alfa lane and this must be corrected. I was stuck near the Irla signal, with roads dug up nearby. Someone needs to be held accountable for this menace.

Deepak Bhati, a resident of Versova

After Gokhale Bridge was closed, an additional 30 minutes of travel time has been added for my child to return from school. My child studies in a school in Andheri west and we live in the East. After traffic jams around Andheri subway, on Monday, we requested the school van operators to check for alternative and longer Vile Parle East-West flyover route. We request the authorities to stop the passing of Heavy motor vehicles from Andheri subway area.

Vidhi Jain, a resident of Andheri East

The delay in reopening of Gokhale Bridge is causing great apprehension in the minds of people who must regularly cross from one side to the other. Already it is stressfull, and the coming monsoon will be worse. There are innumerable countries where crossing the country’s border is easier than crossing from Andheri West to East.

Dinesh Mehta, resident of Andheri east