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Bombay's Western Express Highway breathes easy

Our Correspondent in Bombay

A blockade by slumdwellers demanding water near Jogeshwari on the Western Express Highway in Bombay, that kept motorists stranded in a massive traffic jam through most of Friday, was lifted little after midnight.

Reports said the traffic on the express highway that leads to both the domestic and international airports, apart from a string of bustling suburbs, is normal now.

Hundreds of Bombayites came out on the roads on Friday and stopped traffic after their taps ran dry due to a civic strike since Thursday.

Though the strike was withdrawn in the afternoon following successful negotiations between the civic administration and workers' union, traffic jams on the city's main roads continued till late evening.

The jam on the Western Express Highway probably was the worst. A rediff.com staffer took almost six hours to reach home - a drive that usually takes him an hour.

He said the jam was so bad that the highway had acquired a look of a picnic spot with motorists sitting by the roadside chatting in small groups.

Some said they were stranded at the same spot for several hours.

Eye-witnesses reported that slumdwellers had blocked traffic at several places on the highway demanding water. The blockade at Jogeshwari was the last to go.

Senior officials said the traffic jam on the northern side of the express highway extended up to Dahisar, while on the southern side the road was choked with vehicles right up to Bandra.

Employees of the Municipal Mazdoor Union led by Sharad Rao, the largest in the civic corporation, stopped work for two days over bonus payments sparking off a wave of resentment in the metro. Civic workers' strike just before Diwali has become a routine in Bombay and that is what made the people so angry this time.

According to police, the places worst affected by the popular agitation were Borivali, Andheri, Chembur, the Eastern and Western Express Highway, Parel, Lalbaugh and some parts of Dadar and south Bombay.

Shopkeepers in south Bombay, especially in Zaveri Bazar and Kalbadevi, blocked road traffic and office-goers had to walk their way to downtown central business district of Nariman Point.

The Western Railways said train services between Churchgate and Grant Road too were badly affected.

More than 100 complaints of poor or no water supply were registered till Friday morning at Bombay Municipal Corporation control room. Frantic calls were also made to the corporators by citizens demanding to know when supply will resume.

The situation in particular was acute in the western and eastern suburbs where the residents had to do without water till late Thursday evening.

David D'Souza of Bandra told rediff.com: "I had to leave for office and found that there was no water. I called the local corporator Baba Siddique and asked him what had gone wrong. Is this the way to treat tax-paying citizens?"

Leader of the Oppossition in the BMC A K Bastiwala told rediff.com: "Residents were extremely angry to find no water early Friday morning. I have been continuously receiving calls from 6 am. The civic administration was under the impression that the union will not resort to strike and hence no arrangements were made to ensure that essential services are not affected. The administration was not prepared."

Over 140,000 BMC employees went on strike when their demand for ex-gratia bonus of Rs 8,000 was denied. The civic administration said it could only pay ex-gratia of Rs 2,500 as it was facing a financial crunch.

The administration claims that 80 per cent of revenues go towards establishment costs leaving very little to improve services in the city.

The union on its part claims that only 60 per cent goes towards establishment costs. MMU leader Sharad Rao told rediff.com, "The strike has been a complete success. There is no water in most parts of the city. Garbage from the roads is not being lifted. The workers are angry with the harsh stand taken by the administration. They have been giving us a bad name by claiming that we work less and are paid more. If that is so, get citizens groups and non-government organisations to lift garbage from the roads. No one will be available as nobody has the stamina to do the kind of work that BMC workers do."

Even services at municipal hospitals have been affected as ward staff have joined the strike.

EARLIER REPORT
BMC staff on strike

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