Mumbai HC Directs Maha Govt To Solve Traffic Problems In City

For the ones who live or have lived in Mumbai, you don't need to be told about the traffic woes in the city. For others, simply put, it's a mess! And the Mumbai High Court finally seems to be feeling sorry for the city, as it proposed measures to limit the menace on the metropolitan's roads, on Wednesday.

The HC suggested the Maharashtra government to take measures such as limiting the number of vehicles per family and also proposed encouraging the use of inland water transport. “These days every family has at least two cars…This should be restricted to just one car per family,” it said while hearing a PIL on the shortage of designated parking spaces in the city.

“Unauthorised parking due to lack of space is a very serious problem in Mumbai and is the cause of much traffic congestion….A large number of private vehicles enter the city every morning and leave in the evening, but they have no space for parking through the day. The government cannot sit on the problem anymore,” it added.

The division bench, headed by Justice V M Kanade, directed the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, the state Urban Development Ministry and the traffic police to join forces in order to constitute a “holistic policy” on traffic issues.

The court also noted that despite not being the ultimate solution, inland water transport could also prove to be a major boon in the issue. “While it will not solve all your problems, water transport can act as a complementary mode of transport.” The state government has been asked to also brief the court about the feasibility of inland water transport at the next hearing, scheduled after four weeks from Wednesday.