Hello all,
Drive through the darkness on JVLR | ||||||
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| Absence of streetlights in stretches on the crucial road has made commuting extremely dangerous for night-time motorists |
World Bank stumbles on pitch-dark JVLR Published: Saturday, Feb 7, 2009, 2:19 IST By Ninad Siddhaye | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA | |
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Hello,In reference to this reportThough its probably totally futile in sending this communication, this is once again an earnest request to install the missing road lights, energise those which are installed but not lit, enhance road lighting where roads have been widened, and where the lamp poles have been shifted far away and far between.Not to mention, the surreptitious but obvious removal of road divider medians, useless high visibility painting of yellow and black oil paint on kerbs and medians, no appropriate lane markings, no 'stop' signs, arbitrarily painted 'zebra' lines which start nowhere and lead to nowhere, etc., on going road, flyover, infrastructure works are not barricaded, not lit, openings are broken in medians by locals for short cuts, one way and no parking signs are taken down and not reinstated, etc.This is in general, all across the City.I can say this with reasonable assurance, since I am fairly familiar with large parts of Mumbai's suburbs, due to regular and frequent need to travel almost across Mumbai almost every evening / night.If only officials would take a bit of trouble to go around in the night, and appreciate that there are any number of accident prone areas in the best of times, such as Sahara Star / AYJ WE junction, and when it is dark, raining, and some drunk drivers are on the loose, and the ubiquitous black autos without lights scoot all over the road, then it becomes terror.Specifically, the North end of Mahim Causeway just before going under the flyover is without lights for the past few years, as is the portion just after exit onto Bandra side.Light poles are there, maybe even the bulbs, but no light, after years and years!Maybe something to do with the huge numbers of even larger hoardings which might be affected by such lights.Many sections of Eastern Express Highway are in total black out since weeks, no 'work' on going there.
What about the AYJ Western Express Highway?Image 701 shows a section just before Vakola signal, going South, this is the case since six months, what hapens in the night?The road from Saki Naka to Powai, all the way to the Vikhroli flyover is virtually without lights for as many years as the works going on, sudden unnotified diversions, turns, make it ideal for accidents, if it wasn't for God's Grace.Nothing to do with undecided median dividers, as the good engineer from MSRDC states!
The lights are supposed to be on the sides, not in the centre.And are we supposed to wait for years on end till the divider medians are decided?Add to that the complete lack of visible median dividers, and small and large blocks in the road, uneven road levels between paver blocks, asphalt, concrete, make it one torture trail for all drivers, not to mention utter danger, and enormous waste of time for all, more so late nights, when people want to reach home as early as possible, but the disorder and chaos, and the driver indiscipline, makes delays inevitable.This is not something that I am imagining, but very clear and present for all to see and experience.
Have look at this image, 687, on MV Road, just prior the Leela signal, going West.
Is this dangerous or what?The widened MV Road, ie Andheri Kurla Road is a classic case of haphazard work in all repects, vast exapnse of hard surface, done to the trained observer, in an unplanned manner, but which will be claimed to be as per some plan.There is simply no sense in one way, contra flow till certain points, traffic lights in the middle of nowhere, then within ten metres or less, but without any logic, etc., drivers don't know where to stop, very convenient for MTP to compound drivers, I mean, whatever shouldn't happen, happens.Its mind boggling, even more so, when the situation is completely man made, and which can be very easily set right by simple low cost, high value inputs.The very least, the absolute very least, to white wash all median dividers, parapet walls, and road kerbs with lime wash to which is added fluorescent additives for glowing in the night.This is a low cost, high value, fast, easy, cheap to apply, option to the yellow and black oil paint which gets dirty very fast, attracts grease, dust, dirt, grime, peels off, and is far more costly.The only road at present in Mumbai which is quite well done, is between Saki naka and Powai L and T.The lane markings, zebra lines in place, enhanced by cats eyes, white and red which really give good visibility to the drivers, though the haphazard parking by LCV, MCV, HCV, is something to tackle.Safety at night should be the first priority.If only.Which is that authority which will take the initiative to take stock, organise and implement?We don't need committees, only a Few Good Men.Thanqx.Jagdeep DESAIArchitectSecretaryFounder TrusteeForum for Improving Quality of Life in Mumba / SuburbsForum for IQOLMS+91 98 6922 7148>>>>>>
No kindly light to lead the way
There are no streetlights along various stretches of Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Rd
Ninad Siddhaye
If you have to drive along the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) — one of the major components under the World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) — please ensure that your headlights are in perfect condition, as there are no streetlights on many stretches of the 10.3-km road.
What is even more agonising is that agencies responsible for lighting the road are simply passing the buck.
Work on JVLR began in December 2004. Motorists driving from Jogeshwari to Vikhroli still find it extremely difficult to drive on some of the patches, as the road is poorly maintained.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), is the nodal agency for MUTP, has a standard reaction when asked about the problem.
"Though MMRDA is the nodal agency, our job is limited to the rehabilitation and resettlement part of the project. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is constructing the road and hence the lighting system comes under their jurisdiction," said MMRDA spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar.
The MSRDC has a different excuse on the subject. "On many parts of the road, the median is yet to be decided. Unless that is finalised, we cannot start installing the lighting system," said MSRDC chief engineer, Subhash Nage. He added that it would take at least another month for the lighting work to begin. "We have already made the payment to the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) for the street lights. They will undertake the work now," Nage told DNA.
s_ninad@dnaindia.net
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