Mumbai: The Amar Mahal Junction – which has gained notoriety of being the deadliest travel path in the city – is a nightmare for motorists as well as pedestrians. Regular commuters have repeatedly complained about traffic woes and lack of other facilities at the junction, which is located in Chembur and adjoins the Eastern Express Highway. The Free Press Journal visited the junction on Tuesday and found that there is much substance to the plaints of commuters.
Here is what citizens have to say about Amar Mahal Junction
“It’s like visiting hell,” said a motorist who travels everyday to work via the Amar Mahal Junction. He continued, “In the morning, traffic moves slowly, almost like we are not moving at all for hours, then in the evening, it’s the same story. During national holidays, we may get respite during the morning hours, but in the evening, especially post 7pm, it’s too much to bear.”
Sonali Jadhav, a local resident, recalled that once she had to cross the road at the junction along with her relative who is a senior citizen. It took them, “to be exact, 21 minutes, just to cross the road”. The problem is the non-stop traffic and even when the signal turns red, motorists don't stop, making it difficult for pedestrians to move even an inch, she said.
This newspaper found that even in the presence of traffic cops and wardens, traffic violations continued, including jumping signals, unnecessarily honking, driving on the wrong side, etc.
Illegal drug activities
Residents bemoaned that certain points of the junction don't have proper lighting facilities, which creates the possibility of chain and phone snatchings and even illegal drug activities, especially in secluded places under the flyovers or bridges.
However, Chembur Traffic Division Senior Inspector Anant Ahire provided a different version. He said that the BMC has installed LED lights under the flyovers and bridges. Talking about traffic congestion, Ahire said, “Once all the work undertaken by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority gets completed, traffic woes will come to an end. As of now, traffic moves smoothly at the junction. Yes, it could be slow at times.” Underlining that the time between 5pm-9pm are peak hours, he said that three each traffic cops and wardens are deployed during these hours to avoid congestion.
Recently, a road safety report released by Mumbai traffic police in collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies revealed that among 15 high-risk junctions in the city, the Amar Mahal Junction saw the highest number of road accidents.
