[iCars]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

Deliberately reviving an old thread!!!

From 2004 till 2012, which is almost a decade, lets talk about the state of Mumbai's roads. Have you seen any improvement in the road conditions in the past 10 years?
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Need your inputs please!!!

apachelongbow , thanks for restarting this. Atleast we can express our emotions here

This is a topic which touches heart of every Mumbaikar who owns a car, I believe. Total apathy I would say. I live in Kandivali and drive to Powai (office) every day and the driving experience is totally pathetic. Almost each stretch of road has a different texture (paver blocks, concrete, asphalt etc). I have constant backaches now because of traffic and BAD ROADS.

SUVs are the best best in Mumbai with greater visibility and crater handling capability. My brother who owns a Vento rues his decision and says he should have gone for an SUV to deal with Mumbai traffic and roads.

iCars

[faustus77]

Hi everybody
We have been hearing about road repairs and good roads but nothing has changed in decades. If anything they are worse specially where interlocking tiles have been used.
Came across a weird piece of news in the Mumbai Mirror dated 4th June 2013 on the subject of potholes.
Regards
"
THAT’S WEIRD

ACTIVISTS PLANT POTATOES IN POTHOLES IN RUSSIA

MOSCOW A group of activists in the central Russian city of Yaroslavl have planted potatoes in potholes across the city “to see if these potatoes will grow sooner than the city authorities repair the roads”. Road construction and repair in Russia is notoriously inefficient, with funds allocated for road maintenance often embezzled or misused. Activists, equipped with light-reflecting vests and spray paint, drew rings around hundreds of potholes on the city roads in a bid to attract the attention of authorities.

[apachelongbow]

Infact today in 2013, atleast before the monsoon the roads have no potholes, but the road conditions are atrocious and pathetic to say the least, and this is supposed to be India's financial capital!!!!
The major grouse I have against Mumbai's roads are
1) That stupid paver tiles sections. Concrete roads joined by blocks of paver tiles, which slip in monsoons, break or the ground below caves in and we get choppy/wavy rides
2) Idiotically planned dividers, almost as big as jail walls, every day we see some or the other vehicle getting totalled, crashing into them
3) Random sprinkling of unmarked speedbreakers and that cat eye lane dividers.
4) I wonder why for gods sake the planners want to recarpet roads and then leave it an inch or two higher than the other sections, do they really expect vehicles to flatten them with time?

[SDP]

In Mumbai, I would prefer something like this - Marauder:


See the Hummer in the picture for size comparison.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDoRmT0iRic

Love that video which shows how the Marauder handles 'common' problems in city traffic.

[Maky]

The roads outside my apartment building are now being re-done citing monsoon season. Said roads seemed just fine before they started it : /. They say they are using cement, is cement the material that is more robust?, but I doubt it.
Annoys me to no extent the vehicles we purchase the tax we pay goes into the bloody mafia that controls them and we must endure this garbage. I for one am purchasing an SUV as my next car, one where the bottom will not scrap and offer comfort over the potholes.

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

4) I wonder why for gods sake the planners want to recarpet roads and then leave it an inch or two higher than the other sections, do they really expect vehicles to flatten them with time?

I was under the impression this was done because of their laughable opinion that the road would 'wear' off during the monsoon season and keeping the height of certain parts of the road above the others was a means of keeping 'headroom' : P.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by Maky

I was under the impression this was done because of their laughable opinion that the road would 'wear' off during the monsoon season and keeping the height of certain parts of the road above the others was a means of keeping 'headroom' : P.

The Mumbai roads are in the firm grip of a road repair mafia, it is an open secret. BMC is responsible for the upkeep and repair of all roads within Mumbai. They collect Octroi, road tax, and tolls from everyone for the same purpose.
However they are running an old trick, and state that they have acute lack of manpower, so they are outsourcing the road mantainance and repair work to contractors. And contractors have to bid for projects and the BMC selects the lowest bid and selects them.
The problem is all contractors are either owned by BMC officials or their wives, sons, daughters, relatives etc, so it is the case of taking money from one hand into the other.
Every year we see the same sham going on, roads being dug up just before monsoons, being hurriedly carpeted with rubble/sand during rains and a light coat of tar post rains, the idea being allow potholes to develop so that these goons get repeat business.

[sandeep108]

It has become worse since MMRDA got into the picture. Now they simply blame each other. Question is what can we do about it? Can we file a PIL in the HC stating that in spite of paying the heaviest taxes in the world, we have the most pathetic infrastructure? And that the Court must appoint a reputed agency - maybe a foreign one - to certify road quality and engineering? And that the Police must crack down on brake lights, tail lights, etc. Till then the taxes collected by BMC by octroi/LBT on anything related to cars/bikes/road use related, including fuels be deposited with the Court. If things do not improve, these amounts to be refunded to all Mumbai registered tax payers. If they still do not improve severe deductions from salaries of all road department officers in MMRDA and BMC?

Unfortunately governance and accountability issues is something we as a democracy have failed to address.

[latentpotential]

A tiny example: roads in our area were dug up for cable laying. When done they filled up the trenches and put a neat layer of cement on top. Two days off rain and the the cement had gone down six inches, akin to a inverted speed breaker. Time to repair is uncertain as the original contractor must solve the problem. if he is long gone, so is our road.

[EagleEye]

It is extremely saddening to see the state of the roads in our commercial capital. Earlier this year when I had a friend visit me from a foreign country I took him on a drive around the city, and the first thing he commented on was the condition on the roads. I was embarrassed and ashamed, and felt like running off to another country.

BMC really should be taken to task for their inefficiency, negligence, and corruption. Will filing an RTI help? (I'm sure someone would have already done that though)

[amtak]

My wife hails from Nagpur and I am a Mumbaite; I got married in 2009 and met my wife for the first time in 2008; It's been almost 5 years that we are together. Why am I stating this? I met her for the first time in 2008 Monsoons in Nagpur and I haven't seen any road construction activity happening there in the last 5 years; agreed that some stretches might be bad but last 5 years, I do not see road laying activity happening there and the road quality is simply great.

T Chandrasekhar was posted there just after he was jutted out of Thane; look at Thane roads as well (atleast the GB road); To be honest, I have decided to retire outside of Mumbai so that I don't have any back ache trouble in my old age.

[faustus77]

Hi everybody
An excerpt from todays Times of India "Indian at the wheel" page no 12.

"Indians are by far the worst drivers in the world, the fault not so much with technique as temperament. The moment we hit the road, we go back a few hundred years in civilisation, brawling and bawling, spitting and swearing as we try to reach our destination – always late – through a haphazard maze of unruly vehicles zipping around in every conceivable trajectory.
It didn’t surprise anyone that Sebastian Vettel, who was here two years ago at the Buddh International Circuit for a race, looked around the city and wondered if people actually had a licence. And this bewilderment came from a man who drives dangerously for a living, crashing around for pole position.
Disregard – even disdain – for traffic rules isn’t the only problem."

Mods: Due to oversight I have posted in the wrong thread.As I have posted it again in the right thread could you please delete this post from this thread.I tried but failed.Sorry for the trouble.thanks

[raul]

I have been using a Duster all over Mumbai over the last 8 months, and that's what I would recommend.

2 days of rains is all it takes to reduce Mumbai roads to craters. One month in and things will get nasty.

Back to the Duster the ride quality is superb and it does offer some creature comforts you would find in similarly priced sedans, and is comfortable and stable on highways too at the higher 3 digits. Its the perfect vehicle for our roads.