Travelling in Mumbai has become chaotic. Well, it always was chaotic. The only difference now is that it's chaotic at any point in time! Sometime during the 90s, I remember, Sundays were the days to travel in peace. The trains were empty and so were the buses. Rickshaws made not a fuss and taxis willingly went everywhere.
Now, in the 2000s, Sundays always see a maintenance block either on the Central or Western line. If not that, the trains are forever crowded. They are crowded in the afternoon, packed to capacity in the evening, and show no signs of vomiting the crowds out even in the night.
Buses are not that much of a pleasure to board either. Rickshaws and taxis no longer make you eager to travel in them as well. And worst of all, the roads haven't gotten any wider. Yes, the BMC does dig all the time and tars and cements every lane and highway twisting round apartment blocks and bazaars. And yes, they do it all in the name of progress and enhancement and whatever terminology they learnt over the weekend. But no, there's no enhancement much less progress and a whole lot of technology is just wasted away.
I wonder whether things will be any different when the Metro starts to operate. As it is, the mess that its construction has strewn all along the Versova-Andheri(Chakala)-Ghatkopar route makes Andheri look worse than hell during peak hours. Traffic takes its own sweet time to side-step all this mess as it winds away from Andheri station towards Chakala and MIDC and back.
Now imagine what will happen when, say, a swarm of 2000 or more people descend down the steps of Chakala Metro station onto the road! Since the authorities thought it very clever to build the metro atop the busiest road in Mumbai, it sure will come as no surprise if Chakala junction comes to a halt every time a metro local hurries past that station.
Well, sometime soon, Andheri is all set to collapse under the weight of its business and traffic and ditches. After all, how long can a patch of land silently let more than a million brain-dead people stomp all over it? Nirvana may strike any day.
Now, in the 2000s, Sundays always see a maintenance block either on the Central or Western line. If not that, the trains are forever crowded. They are crowded in the afternoon, packed to capacity in the evening, and show no signs of vomiting the crowds out even in the night.
Buses are not that much of a pleasure to board either. Rickshaws and taxis no longer make you eager to travel in them as well. And worst of all, the roads haven't gotten any wider. Yes, the BMC does dig all the time and tars and cements every lane and highway twisting round apartment blocks and bazaars. And yes, they do it all in the name of progress and enhancement and whatever terminology they learnt over the weekend. But no, there's no enhancement much less progress and a whole lot of technology is just wasted away.
I wonder whether things will be any different when the Metro starts to operate. As it is, the mess that its construction has strewn all along the Versova-Andheri(Chakala)-Ghatkopar route makes Andheri look worse than hell during peak hours. Traffic takes its own sweet time to side-step all this mess as it winds away from Andheri station towards Chakala and MIDC and back.
Now imagine what will happen when, say, a swarm of 2000 or more people descend down the steps of Chakala Metro station onto the road! Since the authorities thought it very clever to build the metro atop the busiest road in Mumbai, it sure will come as no surprise if Chakala junction comes to a halt every time a metro local hurries past that station.
Well, sometime soon, Andheri is all set to collapse under the weight of its business and traffic and ditches. After all, how long can a patch of land silently let more than a million brain-dead people stomp all over it? Nirvana may strike any day.
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Thank you for visiting Pooja. Do visit often.:)