MMRDA removes BKC bus lanes
The authorities had spent Rs 2 crore on the project last year, dubbing it as a success .
Mumbai: Nine months after spending almost Rs 2 crore constructing bus lanes on both sides of the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has now removed the bus lane barricades citing that it would be difficult to have a bus lane at a time when work on the 23-km-long DN Nagar-BKC-Mankhurd Metro II-B corridor is about to begin in few months.
In October 2015, the MMRDA had announced that if the bus lane project in BKC turns out successfully, it would be replicated in other areas of the city. Besides spending such a humongous amount on the project, the MMRDA had to also remove the 13-km-long cycle tracks from various stretches, which were installed in 2011 for a cost of '6 crore.
Pravin Darade, additional metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA, said, “At the moment, removing the bus lane is a practical option considering the civil work for Metro II-B corridor would start in BKC in few months and in this case we cannot afford to have one lane reserved for buses considering the few lanes would have to be shut for the civil work.”
Mr Darade, added, “I agree that the planning should have been made considering various components. My logic is simple that there should be only marking of bus lanes and no installations of barricades as following traffic rules is a psychological phenomenon and barricades cannot always stop violations. In future, once Metro work is completed we would only have marking using paint that would be indicating bus lanes.” Post the installation of the bus lanes, several motorists had complained of a choked traffic during peak hours when thousands of vehicles enter BKC considering it being a commercial hub. The traffic department had even levied fines on a few motorists for plying on the bus lanes, along with MMRDA claiming to having taken help of traffic wardens to stop private vehicles from being driven on bus lanes.