And for a Friday in Mumbai, suffered in the traffic grid, some thoughts….. some musings…..
The receding monsoon caused havoc in Mumbai on Wednesday. Travelling from Malabar Hill to NMACC (Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre) with my grand kids for a Broadway show “The Little Prince” being staged, turned into a scary outing. After the sea link, just a distance of 3 kms took us three hours to negotiate in torrential rains. All roads in BKC, as in most of Mumbai, were in a lock-jam grid. Vehicles could just not move as every major junction was either flooded, had stalled vehicles, or poor visibility due torrential rains. Signs of impact of climate change; intense clouds bursts in cities, unprecedented rains in desert regions, unseasonal floods, rivers in spate, drought in Africa and global warming.
Whilst global warming and climate change issues need global solutions, traffic jams, potholes, bad highway signages and road rages on Indian roads need social, legal and technology solutions. Mr. Nitin Gadkari, the dynamic Union Road Transport and Highways Minister, shared shocking statistics. India experiences 5 lakh accidents, 1.5 lakh deaths and 3 lakh injuries, which is more than all wars; militancy and Naxalite combined. That’s how serious the condition is. Into this every year, more than 5 million vehicles are added to Indian roads, thanks to competition between Banks, NBFCs and other financiers. Car loans are easier to get than any other loan. Indian road and traffic conditions require serious introspection and long term remedial actions.
Every one of us have to bear the cross. Lets support each other to find solutions to this problem, the participative way, the socio-legal way, the SEEGOS way.