Bombay HC orders traffic committee to ease commuting woes

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Monday said that no one cared about the rights of pedestrians. The court said that those who had cars were seen parking them anywhere without caring for pedestrians.

The high court ordered the committee constituted by the Mumbai traffic police to come up with a solution to the problem.

The court also directed the traffic police to submit a report on the steps it proposed to take to ease commuting woes in crowded areas such as Crawford Market, Bhuleshwar and Zaveri Bazaar in south Mumbai.

A division bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice G.S. Kulkarni was hearing a PIL filed by city resident, Rakesh Shukla, about traffic congestion in south Mumbai. While hearing the petition, the Mumbai traffic police told the court that it had formed a committee, which included an expert from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai, to come up with remedial measures.

The traffic police also informed that the joint commissioner of police, traffic, and assistant commissioner, BMC, had conducted a joint survey of Crawford Market and other such congested areas in the city.

To this, the bench said that the committee must hold a meeting at the earliest to come up with remedial proposals and it must submit a report on the same to the court. The bench also suggested that the traffic police join hands with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to crack the whip on rampant unauthorised parking in such areas.

At last hearing, the bench had suggested that the traffic police restrict vehicular movement in crowded market areas during the day.