Mumbai will travel differently, and happily, soon

Heading an organisation which has been working relentlessly toward the improvement of the city’s infrastructure can be quite an uphill task.

With his vast experience in bureaucracy at both the state and the Centre, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad has been managing the journey with not much sweat but a lot of toil. DNA talks to the veteran IAS officer about what Mumbai can expect from his organisation in the year ahead.
 
What has MMRDA got for Mumbaikars in 2011? Most of us are coping with endless barricading and more than occasional cases of pipeline bursts.
The city will enjoy a Metro and a Mono ride in 2011. The flyovers at Suman Nagar, Barfiwala Junction, Lalbaug and King’s Circle are nearing completion. Also, the completion of the rail overbridge at Milan subway and the Sahar elevated road will further ease life for Mumbaikars. With these projects witnessing the light of the day, the barricading, which causes traffic snarls, will pave the way for speedier and more comfortable travel. The pipeline bursts have only been occasional. But, at times, it becomes difficult to undertake digging operations in the absence of proper mapping of underground utilities. We have instructed our project implementing agencies to adhere to all the safety measures strictly. Mumbaikars are in for long-term comfort very soon.

Environmentally, how safe and secure are our various infrastructure projects?
Infrastructure development is our mandate. And environment protection and maintenance of ecological balance, for us, is on top of our priority list. We have recently installed noise barriers at the Bandra-Kurla Complex. The decibel levels there have come down drastically. In the wake of this success, we have decided to undertake a noise-mapping exercise on all flyovers, rail overbridges and the Metro-Mono routes. This will help us identify noisy areas and install barriers to arrest the rising decibel levels. The Metro and Mono rails do not require any fossil fuel and remain free of air pollution. Both these rails will also make people use public transport and leave their private vehicles home. Monorail uses regenerative braking which means when the train brakes, it passes on the electric power back to the system which can be used by other trains running on the system at that time. This almost saves 25% of power.

The biggest question in a common man’s mind is regarding the deadlines of your projects. Are you committed to meet them?
Of course! Mumbaikars will certainly travel differently, and more happily, very soon.
Many Mumbaikars heavily criticise projects such as the skywalks.

The skywalks are there to provide a safe and secure walk to the station and back home. One can avoid overcrowded areas, roads full of encroachments and speeding vehicles. During monsoons, you can avoid muck-splashing cars, open manholes hidden in the waterlogged roads. There were two  views that objected to the skywalks — the shopkeepers who thought people would not flock to their shops but overlooked the fact that the skywalk is an option and not a compulsion for people, and those who do not like to climb up. But it’s a misconception. Skywalk does not make you climb twice, for, in any case, one has to climb a staircase at the station.  A few also suggested that people prefer underpasses. But underpasses, in fact, make people climb stairs twice as at the end of the underpass one needs to climb up! In any case, the fact that about 10 lakh people use the skywalks daily speaks volumes about its usefulness.

Projects that will be operational in 2011 (as claimed by MMRDA)
Flyovers at Suman Nagar, Barfiwala Junction, Lalbaug and King’s Circle; rail over bridge at Milan subway; Sahar elevated road; first phase of metro (Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar); first phase of monorail between Chembur and Wadala; road projects such as the Anik Panjrapol Link Road and Panjrapol-Ghatkopar Link Road.