Combing a child’s hair, a parting kiss and last-minute instructions from inside the car and right outside the school gate—a perfect recipe for a traffic jam and the resultant noise and honking. School authorities blame this everyday scene for the chaos that disturbs the neighborhood.
Traffic jam near Anjuman-I-Islam's Girls school is a nightmare, claims school authorities and commuters. Upon a visit at the school, Free Press Journal found out students of the school jostled for space every day, soon after their classes were over at 12 pm, thanks to chaotic traffic.
Traffic outside school | FPJ
“Arrival of students by cars is a nightmare. It slows down traffic and then drivers begin to honk constantly,” said the watchman of Anjuman-I-Islam's Girls school.
From illegal parking to absence of traffic police personnel, the situation seemed to be worsening, claim parents.
Illegal parking outside schools
Many parents said, the food and ice cream carts have also started parking outside the schools, compounding the traffic problem.
A mother expressed concern about the congestion caused by numerous cabs, vans, auto rickshaws and two-wheelers, parked outside schools. She highlighted “the narrow school gate causes students to get stuck and limits the space for them and the vehicles to move, leading to traffic jams.”
As most schools do not have provision for parking on premises and parents are expected to drop their wards off at the school gate, another parent struggling outside the school says, “school buses have limited routes and private autos are not too safe. I cannot send my eight-year-old to school all alone.”
Schools have been making efforts to curb noise, but the results are mixed.
Principal claims the chaos is due to the entry and exit gate being the same. | FPJ
No help from BMC
Principal claims the chaos is due to the entry and exit gate being the same. Despite lodging multiple complaints to The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and nearby police stations, the authorities have failed to find a permanent solution.
“This chaos is due to our entry and exit gate being the same. The school authorities have ensured to not let two classes get over at the same time and made time arrangements in between classes in order to combat the traffic outside. We have also filed a complaint at the Nagpada Police Station in Mumbai Central after which they have allotted two traffic official outside the school premises post 12 Pm”
Traffic police taking necessary steps
Traffic cops, on their part, said they were making efforts.
Acknowledging the effects of the problem, Raj Tilak Roushan, deputy commissioner of police, traffic (HQ), said, “Our personnel are working to tackle the traffic in these areas. We are aware of the problem and steps are being taken to handle this.”
“The school has their entrance right on arterial roads. During peak hours, multiple vehicles ferrying students cause chaos as they all assemble at one spot. This poses a significant problem as there is only one entrance, making it impossible to redirect two-wheelers and cars elsewhere. The disruption typically lasts for 20-40 minutes before returning to normal,” another senior traffic official.
