Link flyovers to ease traffic if it floods: BMC
The flyovers on this road span a short distance, due to which the vehicles have to climb and descend repeatedly.
Mumbai: In order to maintain the traffic movement in flood-prone areas during heavy rains, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) might explore the possibility of linking the flyovers and bridges in such localities. It would ensure that the vehicles would keep moving instead of getting stuck in accumulated water and bring the traffic to a halt, the civic officials said.
Connecting the flyovers and bridges in flood-prone areas was one of the major suggestions raised the special review meeting presided by the BMC chief, Ajoy Mehta on Friday at the civic headquarters to discuss the fallout witnessed in the city during the heavy downpour last week.
“The Babasaheb Ambedkar Road in Central Mumbai was shut down for more than 20 hours due to flooding and jammed vehicles. For an international city like Mumbai, to keep an arterial road like Ambedkar road closed for such a long period is not affordable at all. The flyovers on this road span a short distance, due to which the vehicles have to climb and descend repeatedly. If we link these bridges, traffic will move on without any obstruction even if there is flooding during monsoon,” said a senior civic official.
Accordingly, the linking of Madkebuwa Chowk flyover with Hindmata Bridge and Kings Circle flyover with Sion Hospital flyover from above the Harbour Line has been recommended to ease the traffic at Hindmata and Gandhi Market respectively.
Civic activist Nikhil Desai from Matunga said that the move, if implemented, would bring a lot of relief to the residents of Sion, Matunga, Dadar and the nearby areas during heavy rains.
He said, “It sounds good, but there are some practical difficulties. The linking of King’s Circle and Sion Hospital flyovers above the harbour line will be an uphill task.”
“They will have to address the slope issue very carefully,” he added.
Other major suggestions discussed in the meeting included diverting the flow of water from Britannia pumping station to Cleveland by using micro tunnelling method and augmentation of the storm water drain network.