Vol. 58 No. 33 • March 7, 2017
Mumbai, the city that was once known for its disciplined driving, has today become a driver’s nightmare. Being stuck in traffic for hours has become a part of our life. Interestingly, Mumbai is the only city in the world where distance is measured in minutes and not in kilometers, because it’s the traffic here that decides how much time you will take to reach your destination.
Over the past five years, the number of vehicles in Mumbai have grown from two million to three million, making travel worse for the commuters. Dismal state of roads just adds to our woes, causing needless congestion of traffic.
Traffic has not only taken a toll on the personal life of all Mumbaikars, who on an average spend around three hours or more to travel daily from home to their work place, but also on their health. Air pollution due to traffic can have detrimental effects on our hearts and lungs and can cause asthma. It can also cause long-term damage to people’s nerves, brain, kidneys, liver, and other organs.
Traffic also gives rise to stress and anxiety, as you cannot reach on time for important events like an interview or reach a hospital on time in emergencies and even for Rotary meetings. Long-term exposure to traffic noise can cause hearing impairment, high blood pressure, irregularity of heart rhythm, irritability, impact our sleep cycle and reduce productivity.
Strengthening public transport can be one of the solutions to stop traffic congestions. Cities like Singapore have developed public transportation so well that people prefer public transport to their own, so why not Mumbai? Several Metro projects undertaken by the government are already underway and hopefully these will make our stress during travel less.
We at the Rotary Club of Bombay are considering joining hands with the RTO to spread awareness on issues related to health hazards through increasing vehicular congestion. We would also educate children through our Interact & Rotaract clubs and our Bhavishya Yaan schools on the dangers of pollution and its ill-effects on the lives of citizens.
Mumbai is the highest tax paying city in India. Let’s hope that in the near future Mumbai will get a strong public transport system, and pollution free air to breathe.
