Mumbai: Heavy Vehicle Movement Restricted During Peak Hours

The city’s infrastructure is struggling to cope with increasing traffic congestion

The Mumbai Traffic Police (MTP) has issued a directive that may come as a relief to thousands of road users. According to the order signed by Additional Commissioner of Police, Sanjay Mohite, the movement of heavy vehicles will be restricted during peak traffic hours, to counter the severe traffic snarls currently being encountered.

The order states, "For the purpose of smooth movement of traffic and better traffic management in Mumbai, from 7am to 11am and 5pm to 9pm, all heavy vehicles except heavy vehicles providing essential service like vegetables, milk, ambulance, police department, fire department, government, semi-government vehicles and all buses transporting passengers, will have restrictions for running on the roads,".

The traffic situation in Mumbai has deteriorated to a very large extent over the past year. While new car purchases have increased the strain on the city’s infrastructure, road works and construction of the new Mumbai Metro phase have turned arterial roads into parking lots. 

Large sections of link road in the western suburbs, and the western express highway have been cordoned off for construction work which has almost halved the amount of road space available. This has lead to bottlenecks, with the average travel time being raised by an hour or more. Heavy vehicles occupy a lot of space, which aggravates the situation further, leading the MTP to take this step.

It does, however, remains to be seen how this directive is implemented. Heavy vehicle drivers may not be aware of the restriction and those who are may plead ignorance.

What’s your take on this move? Do you see it helping the traffic situation in Mumbai?