Bombay High Court raises concern over traffic blocking way to south Mumbai hospitals

The Bombay High Court on Friday expressed concern over the heavy traffic congestion on roads leading to hospitals like Bombay Hospital and Breach Candy in south Mumbai and asked the authorities to ease the problem to enable smoother movement of ambulances.

A division bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice GS Kulkarni said, “If you have to go to Bombay Hospital either you go from Fort or Marine Drive. It’s the same for Breach Candy hospital, one has to either go from Mahalaxmi or Kemps Corner side. In both these cases, the traffic on the roads is so heavy that many times ambulances are not given way to pass by. Shouldn’t there be a dedicated road to reach the hospitals so that people who are in an emergency can reach early.”

The court made these observations while hearing a PIL filed by NGO Janhit Manch which highlighted the ever-increasing problem of traffic and congestion in the city. The court also suggested to the authorities that a legislature should be brought out in relation to tackling the ever-increasing issue of parking. To this, senior advocate Anil Sakhare and advocate Trupti Puranik, appearing for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), said that there are provisions for a special parking authority in the proposed Development Control Plan, and that the authority will be headed by an IAS officer to check and solve the parking problem. The BMC submitted a study report which said that the average traffic speed in Mumbai is 20kmph.

The court also urged the authorities to make use of modern technology like CCTV cameras and e-parking booking facilities. It said, “In countries like Singapore, every lane, corner and road is manned using satellite networks. This helps to avoid any wrong or illegal parking because an e-challan is issued immediately.”