Mumbai: The Coastal Road, which is the newest addition to Mumbai’s infrastructure, has brought along a strange issue for the pedestrians at the Marine Drive’s end of the road. With new attractive railings on the dividers and no crossings available, pedestrians have to walk kilometres to reach the other end of the road a few metres away. This has cropped up as a major issue for senior citizens crossing the road to reach the bus stops.
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It has been over three months that the first phase of Dharmaveer Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj coastal road, connecting Marine Drive to Bandra, has been functional and a week since the northbound road has started functioning. As the road gives a big relief to the motorists travelling from suburbs to the town, it has also brought along an issue for pedestrians at the Marine Drive’s end of the road.
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With the new attractive railings pulled up on the dividers starting from Girgaon Chowpatty to the Marine Drive, pedestrians have also been restricted from passages for crossing the road. On the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Rd, people can cross the road near the Pransukhlal Mafatlal Swimming Pool near Chowpatty and the next crossing is available straight after 1.5 kilometres near the Churchgate F Rd.
The problem is mostly being faced by senior citizens in the area who travel by public buses. The bus stops located on this long stretch of road do not let the commuters cross the road to reach the other side without walking towards any one end of the road to cross at a u-turn. This is also faced by members of the Hindu Gymkhana, Parsi Gymkhana and Wilson Gymkhana, who set on a long walk to board a bus from the other side of the road.
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Nilesh Baxi, a resident of Malabar Hills, said, “If a bus traveller wants to go to any of the gymkhanas, one has to walk a lot and while coming out of the gymkhanas, one can't cross over to the opposite side to take a return bus. One has to walk till F road or hire a cab which will go till F road and then take a u-turn increasing the bill. For the benefit of motorists, senior citizens have to pay the penalty.”
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Since the new railings installed on the dividers restrict people from crossing the dividers and with lack of crossings available, many people resort to climbing over the railings to jump to the other side of the road. The residents of the area feel that this practice is dangerous and can prove fatal some day. While elevated overhead crossings can help in this case but the residents worry about encroachments on the bridge which can harm the locality’s charm.
Suneel M Bhatnagar, president of the Marine Drive Residents Association, said, “If suddenly someone crosses the railing and steps in front of a speeding car, it can turn into an unavoidable situation. Overhead crossings can also not help much in this case as they get easily encroached by hawkers and homeless people. The authorities can install escalators like airports which can help people cross the roads as well as restrict anyone from stopping at a place to encroach it.”
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