Morcha against mishaps

June 27: Angered by traffic authorities' lack of concern, the residents of Wadala have now geared up to meet head-on the threat posed by un...

June 27: Angered by traffic authorities8217; lack of concern, the residents of Wadala have now geared up to meet head-on the threat posed by unregulated traffic in the area. Come Sunday, this centrally-located upper-middle-class residential area will see hundreds march in unison to protest against traffic police8217;s lack of concern for their safety. It will be followed by rasta-rokos on August 4.

The march will commence at the intersection of four educational institutions namely Don Bosco High School, Khalsa College, VJTI and UDCT and will wind its way through all the main thoroughfares of Wadala and end at the ramp below the Antop Hill bridge. The ramp has become a symbol of traffic department8217;s obstinacy. Despite residents8217; repeated requests, the traffic department has failed to put the ramp to any use. It was constructed by the BMC to ease traffic in the area.

Schools and colleges from peripheral areas such as Dadar, Matunga and Antop Hill have also extended their active support what with over 20,000 students crossing these arterial roads to reach their schools and colleges. Way back in 1989, 9-year-old Renu Kapri, a student of the Sitaram Prakash Highschool, was knocked down by a speeding truck. Her right leg had to be amputated. Many other students of this school have had narrow escapes.

More recently on June 3, 1997 metal plates, each weighing 500 kg, flew off a trawler as it negotiated a U turn. Luckily, the school was closed for vacations.

Delay in opening the four-kilometre Wadala-Anik link road has only compounded the problems. Failure to acquire land at three spots has delayed this ambitious Rs 16-crore project. Heavy traffic from the Mumbai Port Trust comprising containers, trucks, trailers and tankers pass through residential areas. Following complaints by residents, the BMC had constructed a ramp to facilitate two-way traffic. The traffic police, however did not concur with the views of the municipal engineers. And even after the ramp8217;s exit point at the Rafiq Ahmed Kidwai Road was widened, as specified the traffic department, none of the heavy vehicles are being diverted to it.

The agitation, meanwhile has touched a chord with the students. Prominent schools participating in the agitation are St Joseph8217;s, Auxillium Convent, South Indian Welfare Society SIWS, Don Bosco, National Kannada Education Society, Andhra Education Society, Municipal Deaf and Dumb School, Bansidhar Agarwal High School, Sitaram Prakash, King George, J B Vacha, among others.