Experts say claim is exaggerated, BMC survey shows traffic volume to be 1.06 lakh currently.
Once the Bandra-Worli sea link is extended to Haji Ali, all four-wheeler will use the sea link rather than the existing city roads, or so the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) believes.
Call it belief or delusion, the state-owned body expects virtually every four-wheeler plying between Haji Ali and Bandra to take the extended sea link, once it is ready in 2012, and that too after coughing up more than Rs50 by way of toll.
The absurdity of it all gets more pronounced especially since there is scepticism by traffic experts if that many four-wheelers ply on this stretch.
In real terms, MSRDC has projected that 2,09,987 cars will take the sea link on daily basis and all that the car owners are waiting for is the extension of the existing Bandra-Worli arm. Juxtapose this with the situation on the existing sea link: it was projected that at least 79,335 four-wheelers will ply on it daily; reality check: it witnesses an average daily traffic of 37,000 vehicles.
The new projections were shared by the MSRDC last week, in response to an RTI query that sought project details on phase-II of the sea link.
The MSRDC has justified the forecast by stating: “It was assumed that the commencement of commercial operations on the Worli-Haji Ali section will create more traffic on the Bandra-Worli end.”
It has estimated 1,27,055 crossings per day on the Bandra end and 82,932 on the Haji Ali end, totally adding to 2,09,987.
Vehicle counts taken by the traffic department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), however, suggest that the forecast is grossly exaggerated.
According to their findings, the highest car traffic volume — a sum total of cars plying in all directions — on intersections situated between the two arms of the extended link is only 1.06 lakh currently. This was recorded at the Haji Ali junction. Feeder junctions like the one near Mahim Church, situated near the other arm, accounted for less than 1 lakh cars.
Transport experts stated that the MSRDC’s projections seemed overstated, even if a possible rise in traffic on these junctions in the coming years was accounted for. “Such a large increase in traffic volume on the sea link looks outlandish,” said Ashok Datar, a transport planner. “People will not find the incremental value of Worli to Haji Ali stretch equal to the first arm.”
Sudhir Badami, another expert, questioned the ministerial and the bureaucratic wisdom in spending big money towards the project. He advocated implementation of a Bus Rapid Transit System instead.
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