Even as the rains are ready to lash the city in a day or two, residents of south Mumbai have raised concerns over the bad state of footpaths and traffic in the area. Residents of Colaba have been drawing the attention of the authorities towards the sorry state of footpaths in the area, while Cuffe Parade residents have voiced concerns over the traffic problem. "The footpaths continue to be in poor condition. All the roads are still dug up. This monsoon seems to be the worst ever monsoon that will be there. No one is accountable here. When you know that this kind of concretisation takes time, why even start the work. The condition of footpaths is worst because no one can walk and they are in a total mess. Both, the BMC and police are hands in glove," said Pervez Cooper, a resident of Colaba.
Subhash Motwani, another resident of Colaba said, "At one place they have done repair work and it collapsed within 24 hours."
In case of Cuffe Parade, the residents met joint traffic commissioner Amitesh Kumar. "We feel that traffic situation this time is going to be particularly bad," said Padmakar Nandekar, secretary general of Cuffe Parade Residents Association (CPRA).
Among the prominent demands is an emergency lane so that ambulance and fire engines can reach and evacuate the affected quickly, a traffic chowky in the area and a senior officer with whom residents can interact on a daily basis.
The construction schedule of metro could change from time to time, which may require newer arrangement in future.
"Earlier it would take only 20 minutes from World Trade Centre to Mantralaya, now it takes 40 minutes to cover the 2.5-kilometre stretch. We fell, this will get worse due to the metro work. We have also asked for permanent daily traffic police presence at least at 12 different junctions and stress spots in the Cuffe Parade. We also demand for tow truck," said Nandekar.
