On Decongesting Mumbai

The following discussion paper was circulated in the Mumbai (North-West) Chapter meeting. No conversation in Mumbai is complete without someone mentioning how crowded it has become; how the traffic has almost ground to a halt because the roads cannot take the load; how the public transport system is breaking down at the seams and how...oh well. You've heard it all many times Mumbai has peculiar problems faced perhaps by no other city anywhere in the world. It is an island, shaped like the giant claw of a crab, connected by an isthmus to the mainland in the north. The commercial heart of the city is at one end of the city. The dormitory towns and suburbs are at the other. This causes a daily nightmare of commuter traffic the likes of which is seen in few metros anywhere in the world. The density of commuters in the underground in New York at rush hour, for example, is just about a fourth that of the density on the commuter railways of Mumbai. That, despite all its problems, it continues to run so smoothly is a tribute as much to the resilience of its citizens as to the efficiency of its public transport system. Its roads are narrow and cannot be made broader. To expand on the mainland it needs bridges across vast stretches of water. Therefore it can expand only towards the north. You cannot stop people entering Mumbai to make a living - this is a free country. You cannot stop people wishing to live there despite all its problems - its streets are paved with opportunities. Yet it is rapidly becoming a metropolitan nightmare. How does one make things better? What cannot be done? First we must be clear about what is not possible and then find ways within the bounds of possibility. The following for example cannot be done to decongest Mumbai: 1. Increase the land area: This can be done only marginally and will have no major effect on the rapidly growing population of the city. 2. Stop migration into the city: Despite Bal Thackeray and the Shiv Sena this is not possible. Apart from other reasons it goes against the Fundamental Right of the Freedom of Movement under the Constitution. 3. Expand on the mainland: Yes, but that does not address the problem of the city. 4. Shift Government Offices and the Business Centre to the suburbs: Being tried with less than spectacular success. Besides it merely redistributes the density. It does not eliminate the problem. 5. Deport the population: Self defeating. Not possible. They will come back in a jiffy. 6. Deport non-Maharashtrians: Who is a non-Maharashtrian? And why should Maharashtrians and not others have the special privilege of living in the city which is a part of 'ndia? 7. Increase the number of local trains: Saturation point was reached more than two decades ago. 8. Increase the number of buses: They have, from 2500 to more than 4500 today but it is hardly adequate. Besides it takes longer and longer to commute because the roads are so crowded. 9. Underground railway: Flooding, overcrowding, possible large scale disaster and deaths, quite apart from the horrendous cost of the project and the dislocation during construction. 10. Have a large number of flyovers: Being done. This cannot stop the migration of people and vehicles into the city. There is a limit to the number of flyovers. There is none to the number of vehicles and people migrating into the city In other words there seems to be no single method tried out as yet which can help. People and vehicles? When most people think of decongesting Mumbai they think vaguely of lesser number of people and lesser number of vehicles on the roads, so that air pollution can be controlled. It is not possible to move the people out voluntarily. And since it is people who need the vehicles it is not possible to move the vehicles out either. Indeed it is not even possible to bar the entry of either people or vehicles. This has been the real problem. Besides any sudden decision to bring into effect a decongesting plan is doomed to failure. Modem India and Mumbai in particular is not Muhammad bin Tughlaq's Delhi to be asked to move at a sovereign's whim The principle of gradualism The only way then to decongest Mumbai is to first gradually decongest its streets of traffic. This is not easy. Merely telling people to pool cars or to commute by public transport on alternative days does not work because the exhortation is not backed by punishment if disobeyed. Telling them that certain areas of the city are to be kept traffic free may work for a while till, of course, the Governor is invited to inaugurate something. Since his car goes there, the cars of his minions follow. That includes the Chief Minister's, the other ministers' sundry MLAs and the vehicles of their wives if not those of their girlfriends It appears that there is not much hope for Mumbai - or is there Careful balance A series of measures all taken up simultaneously and carefully balanced may succeed. First announce the following measure: Beginning the next financial year all private cars bearing Mumbai number plates will have their road tax doubled. Announce further that road tax will be doubled every year for a period of ten years in the first instance. Both announcements should be made together. That is if the road tax is Rs 100 now. It will be Rs 200 next year, Rs 400 the third year, Rs 800 the fourth year, Rs 1600 the fifth, Rs 3200 in the sixth and so on for ten years after which it will stabilise at its new rate provided migration into the city does not resume. The increase in the road tax by geometric progression should apply only to Mumbai city, not to areas in other parts of the state. It should be ensured that it applies only to private vehicles (White number plates with black numerals). As the cost of maintaining a vehicle in Mumbai starts to go up, car owners will find the pinch getting gradually harder and harder to bear in each subsequent year and consider the option of moving their cars out of the city. The principle of gradualism will give them the time to get their options outside Mumbai in order. They will also have to increasingly consider using public transport. Since the announcement of the policy will have been made a decade in advance they will see much wisdom in moving out permanently, vehicles and all. No additional tax on public vehicles As a result of this measure the pressure on public transport will increase further. The gradual decrease in the number of private vehicles in the city will afford more room for buses. There can therefore be a gradual matched increase in the number of buses to begin with. If the process of gradual increases in road tax makes for the movement out of the city of say 150,000 cars in five years, it should be possible to press into service an additional fifteen thousand buses during the period. The increased road tax can be used to partially finance their purchase. We must remember that road tax on public transport and public carriers (Yellow number plates with black numerals) does not increase As for taxis the number of permits could be gradually doubled with one caveat. During certain times taxis should not be allowed into south Mumbai without at least two passengers. If they are looking for fares and are empty that is another matter. At the moment there are about 35,000 taxis in Mumbai. The number will go up to 70,000. Since the road tax on taxis and autos remains the same there will be a temptation for some people to buy a permit and use a taxi as a private car. Some means will have to be found to ensure that this does not happen Standee local trains All local trains should have their seats removed and be converted into standee trains. Side walls of trains should be reduced to a minimum quadrupling doorway space and vertical holding bars. This will ensure freer movement into and out of trains at stations. The commuter railway network should have the number of rakes increased to twelve. This process is at the moment being taken up. It might even be useful to consider the possibility of terminating all long distance trains at Thane and Borivli Opposition Any project of this nature cannot be put into effect without a lot of opposition from a lot of people. The important thing to remember is that nobody is being told that they must take their cars out of Mumbai. They are welcome to retain them for ever in the city if they wish. But if they do they shall have to pay by way of increased road tax. In this manner there is no infringement on the freedom of the people to possess or run a vehicle anywhere; no infringement of their fundamental right to live and settle in Mumbai. The scheme has the same logic as the one that bans the entry of three wheeler autorickshaws into southern Mumbai. If that can be valid in law, the scheme to charge vehicles for the privilege of running in Mumbai is just as valid. Having a car in Mumbai or bringing one to Mumbai will be a privilege that one will have to pay for, rather like going to a five star restaurant for dinner. The Government will oppose The strongest opposition will come not from private car owners but from the Government of Maharashtra itself. It will not like the idea of paying out road taxes increasing every year in geometric progression to the BMC. It must be convinced that the money is going to be spent on the improvement of the city's road system, the building of elevated roads and flyovers and better lighting all over. In any case, the geometric progression stops after ten years. After that perhaps government cars can be exempted. For now once the new road tax laws come into effect, everybody from the Governor downwards pays. That includes the Chief Minister and his Remote Controller if any. Getting around the new laws The temptation to register cars outside the state and to bring them into Mumbai "temporarily” will increase. Fortuitously, Mumbai has two check posts along the main arterial roads: one at Mulund and the other at Dahisar. All cars bearing non-Mumbai number plates could be given a pass to run in the city. The cost of buying such a pass for cars at the check posts should also increase in geometric progression depending on the number of days that the pass is supposed to operate This will automatically regulate the flow of non-Mumbai private traffic into the city. Again, there is no prohibition on cars coming in but if you wish to, you pay up. The longer you plan to fulfill your wish the more you pay; till it becomes unaffordable. Cars that infringe the law can be fined say ten times what they would have had to pay on that day for their pass and given a fresh special pass. All such passes should be compulsorily displayed prominently on the windshield. A large number of trucks enter the city every day bringing in essential commodities and material for export from the docks. These are almost all public carriers and do not fall within the ambit of the suggested reforms Two and three wheelers As for private two and three wheelers the road tax should be increased but only by arithmetical progression. That is if it is Rs 100 today it should be Rs 200 next year, Rs 300 the year after and Rs 400 in the fourth year and so on for a period of ten years after which it should be reviewed. While this also will discourage the ownership of such vehicles it will hit the lower income groups with less ferocity It is important however to note that as this increasingly tough regimen is brought into effect, immense effort will be made by people first to get around it by different means, second to seek exemptions to the new law and last to subvert the new law. We Indians have a peculiar if perverted genius for this. The Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation and the Road Transport Authorities will have to exercise vigilance at a much higher level to ensure that these efforts are thwarted. It may also be necessary to strengthen the police forces and to pay them better Forget harebrained schemes The suggestions here are definitely more modest than harebrained schemes like having a floating airport in the sea which was suggested in all seriousness by some ambitious civil engineers some time ago. These measures cost nothing or very little. In any case the costs are no where near what will be needed for an underground railway or an oversea bridge to Uran, or any other more ambitious project. The changes sought are gradual and therefore will cause very little everyday dislocation. The increased availability of public transport will ensure that commuters who now use private transport do not suffer if they send their vehicles out of Mumbai. The number of vehicles on the road will lessen perceptibly over the years. The pollution levels will fall affording healthier living conditions to the citizens of Mumbai. Besides the exercise they will get in using public transport should have a perceptible impact on lowering the problems of lack of exercise and obesity leading to heart attacks. Vehicle owning egotists will have to find other towns in which to nurse their egos. Since it is these egotists that also own a Iot of real estate, the prices of real estate are likely to fall, again gradually. Yet those who live and work in Mumbai, the poor and middle class will hardly be affected. At worst things will remain the same for them. At best public transport travel become a lot easier and more comfortable. It is possible, given such measures, to envision Mumbai as a city with less traffic, possibly with lower costs of living, a healthier cleaner environment and in general a place which its citizens will come to appreciate rather than curse as they do at present.