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Gokhale Bridge closure: Traffic police write to BMC to clear hawkers at alternative routes
Mumbai With traffic in the Andheri area been greatly affected due to the closure of the Gokhale Bridge, chief minister Eknath Shinde has asked Municipal Commissioner IS Chahal to remove hawkers on the alternative routes so that the flow of traffic is smooth
Mumbai With traffic in the Andheri area been greatly affected due to the closure of the Gokhale Bridge, chief minister Eknath Shinde has asked Municipal Commissioner IS Chahal to remove hawkers on the alternative routes so that the flow of traffic is smooth.
Even the Mumbai traffic police have written to the BMC to take immediate measure on periphery roads around Andheri in making the commute for motorists easy.
The traffic police have requested the officials of K east and K west wards to clear the hawkers on roads which are given as alternative routes to commute from West to East in Andheri.
The letter written by traffic DCP Nitin Pawar to the ward officials states that hawkers on the SV Road, Link Road and lanes in Vile Parle, Santacruz, Andheri and Jogeshwari connecting west and east, are creating problems in vehicular movement.
According to the letter, they have made arrangements to ensure smooth travel, however, there are many lanes which are narrow at certain locations creating bottlenecks. Pawar added that if a vehicle breaks down or halts to load/unload goods, it results in massive backlog creating traffic issues and if the vehicle is a trailer or carrier truck, it becomes even more difficult to clear it immediately.
Police have asked BMC for sufficient barricades. The police have urged the BMC to take action against hawkers and free the lanes and main roads near Andheri station for motorists. Further, they have asked for potholes to be filled up on main roads and internal lanes. The traffic police have also asked the BMC to reduce the width of footpaths wherever possible, such as the stretch between Andheri east station and Andheri subway so that the vehicles could get more space.
Efforts are on to remove illegally parked and double-parked vehicles on the roads, especially in bylanes.
An official from K west ward shared details in a Whatsapp message that action was taken against 389 hawkers between November 3 and November 7 in the areas which are alternative routes for Gokhale Bridge. This will be an ongoing drive and monitored by the municipal commissioner’s office as well.
“The points raised by traffic department are attended to on top most priority. Potholes on SV road was filled on November 6 and the work on filling potholes is ongoing across all periphery roads. Officials from the K west ward are in constant touch with the local traffic department and we will attend to their requests on top most priority to ensure smooth vehicular movement,” said an official.
The traffic officials have also asked the BMC to remove slopes created by shopkeepers between footpaths and carriageways to load or unload goods. All these measures need to be taken on roads in Santacruz, Parle, Andheri, Oshiwara and Jogeshwari.
(With inputs from Jeet Mashru and Yogesh Naik)
