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Citizens commuting from Lokhandwala in north Andheri and from SNDT-Juhu College in Santa Cruz who had to pass B.P.Patel Chowk were in for a rather unpleasant surprise. It seems slum dwellers from Nehru Nagar near Juhu Police Station had collected on the Juhu Beach for a pooja and thereafter, started back at about 7:15 PM in an unending procession. So we had hundreds of South Indian Mumbaikars who felt that they had a good reason to celebrate at the peak time in the evening by marching in a joyful procession on the main streets of Juhu.
Maybe two thousand cars or more were held up on the various roads that lead to this B.P.Patel Chowk, which for the uninitiated is the T-junction comprising V.M. Road, Juhu Tara Road and Juhu Market Road. There were traffic jams for two kilometres on each side of the said junction. Remember, no vehicle was able to move, so buses, private cars, taxis, rickshaws, ambulances, etc. all waited patiently so that one single citizens group of a few hundred could celebrate in their traditional way. The problem began to ease out only after 8:15 PM. Normal traffic took another 30 minutes. So in all trauma for over one and half hours.
Juhu Beach is now a year round centre, for all sorts of joyous celebrations for all the communities of Mumbai. Almost every other week one can find large or small groups coming to the beach for their very own function. It is a given that they have to seek Police permission to take out processions or block traffic.
How is it that the Juhu Police Station has given permission when they know that the peak hour traffic will be held up causing serious inconvenience to thousands of citizens? How is it that they failed to put to signs to divert traffic and keep one lane free on each affected road, with barricades, for the emergency traffic? Even Ganpati Visarjan is better managed. How is it that no publicity was given in the media to such traffic blockage? Who is to be held responsible for the trauma of thousands of tired citizens just wanting to go home in the late evening?
Mumbai belongs to all, so all must share its resources, for their own enjoyment. However, can this be done at the cost of serious disruption to a large majority by a minuscule minority? Solutions have been implemented on a regular basis for such events; witness the Ganpati Visarjan, Moharrum Parade and so on. Why is this not done on a regular basis by setting up a calendar of annual events for each Police Station with a tested citizen friendly solution? Will the Addln. Police Comm, West Region act on this immediately? Delays will add to the road rage that citizens witness so often. Alternate routes need to be developed within the city to overcome such problems. NGOs must make citizens aware that the rules for urban living are a bit different than that of rural living.
Maybe two thousand cars or more were held up on the various roads that lead to this B.P.Patel Chowk, which for the uninitiated is the T-junction comprising V.M. Road, Juhu Tara Road and Juhu Market Road. There were traffic jams for two kilometres on each side of the said junction. Remember, no vehicle was able to move, so buses, private cars, taxis, rickshaws, ambulances, etc. all waited patiently so that one single citizens group of a few hundred could celebrate in their traditional way. The problem began to ease out only after 8:15 PM. Normal traffic took another 30 minutes. So in all trauma for over one and half hours.
Juhu Beach is now a year round centre, for all sorts of joyous celebrations for all the communities of Mumbai. Almost every other week one can find large or small groups coming to the beach for their very own function. It is a given that they have to seek Police permission to take out processions or block traffic.
How is it that the Juhu Police Station has given permission when they know that the peak hour traffic will be held up causing serious inconvenience to thousands of citizens? How is it that they failed to put to signs to divert traffic and keep one lane free on each affected road, with barricades, for the emergency traffic? Even Ganpati Visarjan is better managed. How is it that no publicity was given in the media to such traffic blockage? Who is to be held responsible for the trauma of thousands of tired citizens just wanting to go home in the late evening?
Mumbai belongs to all, so all must share its resources, for their own enjoyment. However, can this be done at the cost of serious disruption to a large majority by a minuscule minority? Solutions have been implemented on a regular basis for such events; witness the Ganpati Visarjan, Moharrum Parade and so on. Why is this not done on a regular basis by setting up a calendar of annual events for each Police Station with a tested citizen friendly solution? Will the Addln. Police Comm, West Region act on this immediately? Delays will add to the road rage that citizens witness so often. Alternate routes need to be developed within the city to overcome such problems. NGOs must make citizens aware that the rules for urban living are a bit different than that of rural living.
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