Opinion ‘We are trying to encourage non-motorised transport’

When we built flyovers, the city did not have a traffic plan. There is no method in the madness. Mumbai needs a comprehensive mobility plan that deals with infrastructure projects and decides where we need flyovers, underpasses, U-turns or skywalks. BMC has initiated this mobility plan project for the first time. It will tell us how the newly built roads are functioning and what is the traffic demand. There is a need to do origin-to-destination studies, and inter-modal integration of metro services, local trains and monorail services. Unfortunately, in Mumbai, the share of public transport has gone down by 12 per cent in the past decade. This is a disturbing trend. The mobility plan is going to concentrate on both motorised and non-motorised traffic such as walking and cycling. Wherever we can, we are trying to encourage non-motorised transport.

SHUBHANGI KHAPRE: Around 50 flyovers in the past 10 years were promised by politicians… But have these flyovers really helped Mumbai?
Urban transport is like a hydraulic system… If you stop it at one place, it affects another. We have constructed 50 flyovers, but what has been the impact? Unless a comprehensive mobility plan is done for Mumbai, we may do projects, but results may be suboptimal.

SANDEEP ASHAR: Since you have previously worked with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, how would you compare working with them and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation?
MMRDA is very focused. It is like an island where we implement projects. In comparison, BMC is more about governance, where addition of infrastructure becomes crucial. In civic administration, there are vast areas where coordination between agencies is important. There are seasonal activities such as the Mithi river work and daily issues like traffic to deal with. I have had a complete experience of Mumbai after joining the BMC.

SANDEEP ASHAR: What was the difficulty in implementing the Bus Rapid Transportation System (BRTS)?
In MMRDA, the Detailed Project Review cost for BRTS was Rs 1,313 crore. When any project amount goes over Rs 1,000 crore, the question arises of who will execute it. We, at the MMRDA, were then focusing on the Metro, which was likely to have a larger impact. BRTS implementation was not easy and there were inter-departmental issues, and since MMRDA cannot decide on the project alone it did not take off.

MANASI PHADKE: How do you justify the Monorail over a more beneficial BRTS which is a cheaper mass transit but that is not even construction heavy?
I agree that the BRTS is a more sustainable system. The monorail is just a accelerated people mover (APM) and not a mass transit system. Such APM systems are mostly used in port or harbor areas and very few cities have it.
MANASI PHADKE: Do you think having one agency overlook road projects in Mumbai will make planning easier?
We need different agencies, as the tasks are immense. An agency such as BMC cannot conceive as well as execute a major road project.
ZEESHAN SHAIKH: How much do inter-departmental issues affect projects? We have seen agencies complain that the much-needed CCTV security surveillance project is not viable because BMC is charging a huge sum for laying cables.
There are no free lunches. If roads are going to be dug up for cables to be laid, someone has to pay for it. The BMC had agreed to waive off a certain percentage of costs for trenching and have conveyed the same to the state government. However, their project itself did not get bidders. We had even asked the MMRDA to tell us the amount they needed a waiver for, but they never got back to us.

ALISON SALDANHA: Around 400 roads are currently dug up. With the monsoon approaching, how rough a ride will it be for Mumbaikars this year?
The financial capital of the country needs good roads. We have prepared a master plan of Rs 7,000-8,000 crore for Mumbai’s roads which will be executed over the next three-year years. The engineers now know in advance which road to do next year. There is now a method to the madness. Working on Mumbai roads is like attempting a surgery on a running man. We cannot isolate the road and carry out work, we have to manage external things such as traffic and internal utility issues.

ZEESHAN SHAIKH: Don’t you think exploiting the water transportation is a solution for reducing this slow mobility issue. In the future maybe, will that be exploited?
It’s not a solution, but it’s a definitely a compliment. BMC won’t take up water transportation projects, but definitely, I was dealing with it when I was in MMRDA. It’s easier to do on the eastern side, because the sea is calm. Western side is rough. For four-five months, you have to close it, it becomes difficult. We’ll support that project too, however BMC can help.
ZEESHAN SHAIKH: Do you feel that a huge, mammoth organisation such as BMC should be broken down into smaller units?
I don’t think so. Somebody would have to carry out a study to see what are the advantages and drawbacks. Major cities have single municipal corporations managing them such as Mexico city, New York and London which are larger than ours in size. There are certain advantages to having a single corporation. For example, even if you divide the corporation, how will you have separate water supply pipelines? And how will you share the distribution of water? Such important issues crop up so a proper study must be done.

AAMIR KHAN: The Bombay High Court has suggested that BMC should blacklist road contractors who use below standard materials for road works. Are you considering this?
Blacklisting is not important. A system has to be there for monitoring of works. Two things we are doing — live works and a third party concurrent audit. We have additional auditors now. Earlier, we gave the whole city to auditors but now we are allotting work-wise auditing. So third party audit is there and we can monitor online. These things will go a long way. Definitely, if some work is below par, then we will do blacklisting.

ALISON SALDANHA: Annually, the BMC always encourages big companies to come forward to bid for contracts. Don’t you think you will get a better response, if you include pre-qualification bids?
Pre-qualification is done for bigger projects, which involve specialised work. For local roads, post-qualification bids work better.. If we have pre-qualification bidding, someone might accuse us of restricting competition for a relatively smaller budgeted project. I think once quality monitoring of road works becomes very live and robust, many players will come forward naturally.

MEGHA SOOD: The traffic police complain that they are not included anywhere in planning road projects, they are only later involved during execution? Wouldn’t it aid better planning if you consulted them since they have direct knowledge of the ground experience?
In Mumbai, there are things like planning issues and not enforcement issues. If planning is done properly, then definitely stakeholders including the traffic police will be called. Their work is to enforce traffic rules, we don’t expect police constables to design roads. Their main work is to regulate the traffic. They can’t do transportation planning. These are highly complex, engineering issues.

MANASI PHADKE: In retrospect, if you had to choose three top disasters in projects, that you would have done differently, what would they have been?
It is difficult to answer. Monorail would be the first — there is a backhanded compliment that it is the world’s second-largest monorail stretch. My second choice is the Metro system — we should have gone about it in a more robust way. Thirdly, we should have gone for underground metro for Line I.

ANJALI LUKOSE: When are we expecting a revamped zoo? And how will the revamped zoo help in improving the conditions of the animals?
The heritage part of the revamp is done. As far as the infrastructural part is concerned, it will take another year and a half. For the Aarey Colony zoo, we are in talks with the government. It will be an extension to the present zoo and not a new one. With the new improvements in place, there will be more space for animals to move about helping their well-being.

(TRANSCRIBED BY TANUSHRI SRIVASTAVA, TANUSHREE VENKATRAMAN & ANJALI LUKOSE)