Having to bear the brunt of daily traffic snarls by motorists taking a right turn at Sambhaji Nagar chowky on Akurli Road in Kandivli East to reach the Western Express Highway, residents of the area have banded together in a bid to ease the problem. While residents have started patrolling the traffic junction to stop commuters from using the right turn, a week ago, the Mumbai traffic police gave them a written notification that soon the 'No Right Turn' rule will be implemented at the junction.
Welcoming the decision and support from the traffic and local police, the Lokhandwala Residents Association (LRA) will be felicitating the senior inspector of Samta Nagar police station, Dilip Yadav and senior traffic inspector Krishna Katakdhond.
Anand Nair, co-founder of LRA, said: "We are personally employing four warden guards at the traffic junction to smooth the traffic and make people aware about it. We will be asking the traffic police to train them for the traffic junction which is causing the bottleneck. The salary for the wardens will entirely be funded personally by the Lokhandwala residents and housing societies. Many residents and societies have came forward to fund the initiative."
Last month, on October 16, over 250 residents stood on the traffic junction to educate the commuters about the issue as a short term solution to the problem faced by them everyday.
Even if the LRA was formed in June, the residents came together in January this year to survey and document the issues along with local representatives of the area.
As the senior traffic police inspector who helped the residents for the initiative has been transferred to another area, the residents are requesting the authorities to bring him back to the area. Shishir Shetty, co-founder of LRA, said: "We received great support from the senior traffic inspector since the beginning of the initiative. We will like him to come back and take charge of the area as he has seen the struggle of the residents and the changes we are trying to bring since the beginning."
Besides the daily traffic issues, the residents are raising their voice against other issues troubling them in the area. Speaking about other issues Rajiv Kashyap, co-founder of LRA, said, "We are speaking to rickshaw union members to deal with the illegal autorickshaws plying in the area. There are few autos drivers who do not have licenses and permits, but are are still plying. Other issues include parking on both sides of roads, as well as people parking in the no parking zones, to name a few."
