Why Coast Roadit is a waste of public money

Public MeetingSt. Andrews Auditorium, Bandra, Mumbai

1st November, 2012

What modes is Mumbai travelling by?

According to Comprehensive Transport Survey 2006 by MMRDA (There might be change of numbers)

1. ~ 70 lakhs by trains

2. ~ 35 lakhs by buses

3. 1.5 crore walking trips of which almost 50 lakhs are

only walking trips, without any other mode

4. Less than 10 lakhs are travelling by private car

• Most of the public money is being spent on infrastructure to make private car travel easy.

• Should government have more concern for public transport and walking modes?

Where is public money being spent?

A major ‘world class’ financial center like BKC planned much later than Nariman Point and Fort does not have a proper bus depot or taxi and rickshaw stand – is that not a matter of concern?

Does MCGM and MMRDA suggest that everybody should travel by private car?

Don’t have bread, let them eat cake?

Where is public money being spent?

How are the conditions for public transport?

Make bus stops useful.

Use information technology to provide information to people on smart phones

Improve bus stops

What world class cities are doing?

• Seoul (transforming to become the city with the best public transport in the world. In 2005 they pulled down a 11 km freeway they built over a river in the 60’s)

• New York (complete transformation in past ten years for making NYC walking, cycling friendly with improved public transport)

• London ( 70 lakh people travel by public bus service)

The CM will only show this, not the previous pictures.

Ecological aspects

Will coast road solve all congestion problems of Mumbai ?

No

Does coast road follow well accepted urban planning principles?

Does Coast Road report have any evaluation of threats from sea level rise ?

Is coast road equitable and address requirements of how millions of Mumbai

citizens travel?

Is coast road the best use of public money?

No

What is reducing the speed of traffic?

• Potholes, especially on junctions, which causes traffic to pile up behind.

• On S V Road and LBS Road, 100 year old road alignments cause a chickens neck at numerous places

• Lack of any restraint on car ownership

About the report

• A search of the document for “climate change” “sea level” and “wave action” yields no results.

• Is this true?

“While the long coastline of the city is its asset, the sea fronts in the city are either abused by unsightly encroachers or happen to be private backyards of the chosen few and not available to public unlike beautiful waterfronts and gardens/promenades adjoining the sea in major coastal cities of the world.”

Page 2

Grounds for opposition

• The Coast Road report is full of unsubstantiated claims on issues which are of much concern.

• Report does not give estimates of number of trips that the coast road will facilitate per day.

Report available herehttp://mcgm.gov.in/irj/portalapps/com.mcgm.RTI_GMDA/docs/Costal%20road.pdf

Grounds for opposition

• Report has no mention of numerous traffic improvement measures that are being applied in every world class city around the world.

• State government and BMC record at transport planning very bad.

• Planning comes first and then come projects.

We want to be ‘world class’

What's going on in the ‘most’ world class city?

111

Reading the report this is what the Mayor did

When did we last hear a Mayor or a CM behave like this?

Where the money should be spent

• 2000 new air-conditioned buses for Mumbai, depot space for buses and staff for operations.

• Improve commuter dispersal at all major railway stations in the city by constructing new FoBs and other access points

• Provide escalators and elevators for all railway stations.

• Improve multi-modal integration in all public transport hubs.

Will this be the case?

“…a long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficial appearance of being RIGHT, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.”

- Thomas Paine, Common Sense

• https://www.facebook.com/NoCoastRoadMumbai

• http://www.change.org/en-IN/petitions/government-of-maharashtra-brihanmumbai-municipal-corporation-stop-the-coast-road-project

Thank you