The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, one of the richest civic bodies in the country with an outlay of 45,000 crores, presented its budget this week. Focusing on infrastructure, health and education, the budget allocated Rs 3200 crore to ambitious Coastal Road, and Rs 2200 crore to roads and traffic operations. So this week in Chatter That Matters, we asked our readers this question: Normal roads or Coastal Road, where should the BMC spend more?
Better maintenance of existing roads and footpaths makes more sense for Mumbaikars. There are many other things that need urgent attention from the BMC. Projects like sewerage treatment plants, rivers rejuvenation etc. Our basic road infrastructure needs attention too. Every year in monsoon, roads are riddled with potholes. These roads are used by all sorts of vehicles. Coastal roads are only for specific car owners.
-Harish Pandey
It is okay to allocate funds to big-budget projects. The Coastal Road project has also been planned to reduce traffic and distance from one end to another. However, the BMC should also maintain the quality of existing roads to prevent potholes complaints from citizens, especially during monsoon.
-Kamlesh Sawant
The BMC should first give basic amenities. Today citizens do not have any place to spend leisure time, except visiting malls and spending money. There are no open spaces, recreational centres. It is also important to focus on a weekend day out facilities like gardens, parks so that quality time can be spent with family and a new generation can learn something new about nature. Since the Coastal Road development project has already been initiated, the BMC should finish the project on time.
-Sumit Darekar
The Coastal Road will provide little benefit to the common man at the same time extract enormous economic, social, environmental and public health costs. Moreover, it will be used by affluent few and it will cost a big sum for a common man. Therefore, the BMC should rather invest its enormous money of several thousand crores in improving and providing good quality roads for all seasons, not a bone-shaking drive in the rainy season.
-Marcus Michael
More than the Coastal Road, the BMC should focus on the existing normal roads and give the citizens some relief from the potholes. The Coastal Road could be on the back burner, but how can one ignore the problems and look for an expensive future project.
-Joe Souza
Most definitely the normal roads, as the traffic jams caused due to bad roads are pathetic. The bad condition of roads has added to the woes of health, time management among other things. Coastal Road is an ongoing project and can be delayed by a few months, but we cannot overlook the current state of roads.
-Shruti Dwivedi
The budget allocation for Coastal Roads is fair. Coastal Road needs more funds to get it started, and building a road in on a waterfront needs more funds as the bridges have to be strong and with longevity. Mumbai is a coastal place. So for better infrastructure and connectivity to reduce the congestion in the cities, the roads have to be made closer to the waterline.
-Dr. Aasawari Martin
I think both the Coastal Road and the city roads are important in Mumbai, and both should be given equal priority and funding. Their work should also be carried out simultaneously because if the BMC only focuses on the Coastal Road, then it’s not right as we Mumbaikars deserve pothole-free roads.
-Noel Raj
Coastal Road is important and necessary at this point. Mumbai being the financial hub of India is way behind in the terms of infra development than other cities in the world. The BMC should and must spend money making Mumbai roads better rather than taking care of the contractors who are becoming crorepati.
-Deepak Parulekar
Expenditure on roads would never come cheap as roads are crucial for a mega city like Mumbai. We have two highways, a freeway and several link roads covering the length and breadth of the city. Once the Coastal Road is ready, it would be added to express commute for the Mumbaikars. The Coastal Road is built on the sea and once built, it should be beneficial for the next several decades. So the BMC should spend on it accordingly. There is no point in spending less on other roads as they are also equally important for commuting and looking at the number of vehicles they handle, they would require repairs periodically. While not making any differentiation between the Coastal Road and other roads, the civic body should make sure that whatever they are spending is long-lasting with minimum losses to the exchequer.
-Avadhut Kharade
The BMC should spend on normal roads instead of spending on one specific project. There are several roads in Mumbai which need repair and are in condition which can pose a threat to pedestrians and motorists. Coastal Road project can be worked upon simultaneously. Before monsoon, the BMC should repair all roads in the city to ensure citizens do not face any troubles.
-Renu Chaudhary
Mumbai , the city of love and light, has over 32 million cars which cause traffic congestion. Traffic congestion affects travel costs, travel time, mobility, accessibility, productivity, and also impacts the environment such as air pollution and global warming. In my opinion, the BMC should spend more on the Coastal Road project simply because ours is a city that takes pride in having a 167 km long continuous coastline. Only a mere 33km of this coastline is accessible to the public. The Coastal Road that would run along Mumbai's western coastline connecting Marine Lines in the south to Kandivali in the north would certainly provide an alternate North-South Trunk route for the people of Mumbai. It would provide improved mobility to relieve the traffic congestion in the city. It will also create much-needed recreational public open spaces and greenery as an example of sustainable development. We must look at this project as a solution to the traffic problem for our city of dreams.
-Meena Mishra
I would request the BMC to work on the normal roads as conditions of the normal roads are bad, particularly in the rainy season, which adds to the traffic and also increases the commuting time. It will also reduce accidents, particularly by two-wheeler drivers. It will also increase the mileage of the vehicles and the maintenance cost will also reduce.
-Deepa Pritam Shetty
The BMC should spend on both, as we need good connectivity and reduced travel time. So completion of both the normal roads as well as Metro network along with Coastal Road and flyovers should be a topmost priority to save on commuting time, fuel and energy, a lot of fuel and time is wasted due to traffic jams
-Adv Sulaiman Bhimani
