travel on S.V. Road

Today I had the opportunity to travel in an autorickshaw from Andheri to Goregaon via the S.V. Road. A couple of days ago, I had travelled via the JVPD, Link Road and it was madness to say the least. So tried a new route. First of all when I boarded the auto, there was a huge traffic jam from just after the Barfiwala flyover to the Andheri market. That is the biggest bottleneck on this road. They have not managed to increase the width of this road for whatever reasons.

After Andheri market it opens up a little and though there is traffic on the road it is a moving traffic so thank heavens for that. The next bottleneck is near the Jogeshwari station, where again the road narrows down considerably. 

Small bottlenecks again appear near the JVLR flyover signal, Behram Baug signal and the Oshiwara old furniture mart but the traffic is moving albeit slowly. At Oshiwara old furniture market, the goods have come down from the shops and footpath onto the roads without any concern or care for the people or traffic. Even the authorities have turned a blind eye to this rampant illegality going on. 

All in all, much better traffic in S.V. Road than on the Link Road though the initial jam at S.V. Road upto the Andheri market was a nightmare. 

travel under a Metro

Had an occasion to travel by auto rickshaw from Andheri west to Goregaon west via the JVPD, Link Road. Horrible travel is just an understatement, it was atrocious to say the least, exacerbated by the metro line construction going on from D.N. Road onwards. Two ambulances were stuck, pealing away, but no respite in sight from the unending chaos on the road. There are multiple bottlenecks on this stretch no less due to metro construction but even otherwise also. The barricades put up due to metro work is a huge hindrance as the roads have been narrowed down considerably leaving very little space for traffic to move. To cap it, the roads are in terrible condition with potholes at many places. The paver blocks have done the most damage on the roads in Mumbai. But absolutely the worst stretch is the link road from Goregaon/ oshiwara bus depot to shashtri nagar, the traffic was utterly crawling, it was maddening to say the least. Don't know how much of this traffic is going to get mitigated when the metro line is finally done, maybe for six months, but I guess then the traffic will be back to the same old snarls like before. Life of a Mumbaikar travelling under a Metro is an experience never to be forgotten.

Mumbai Railway Stations

The exits at practically every railway station in Mumbai is choc-a-block with share autos, hawkers, etc. I know of Goregaon east and west which is in bad shape, east more so. Hawkers have descended on the skywalks as well. In the Goregaon skywalk from station to the S.V. road there are hawkers at one end, druggies at other end, in between the lights are stolen, tiles are gone, the spitoons are gone, the waste buckets are gone. But that is a different matter. It is the crowd that we are talking about, its a total mess. Andheri east and west, both are very bad. Chembur is mess on both sides and so is Ghatkopar. Kurla is horrible. Vashi & CBD Belapur are good. Borivli is bad and so is Malad and Kandivli. Dadar is atrocious to say the least. The only station where i found open space near the station is at Mira Road where i had gone recently. No autos or stalls were allowed in that open space. But that was in the early morning hours, so don't know the situation there in the evening hours. So these share autos and hawkers are being protected by the neta mafia, otherwise why would they be allowed to set up stalls there. Decongestion of the area near the railway stations should be done otherwise if there is an accident at the railway tracks, how will the ambulance move smoothly to the nearest hospital within the designated time.