It is a fact that Mumbai has a floating population, which includes working professionals who commute long distances to work and go back home – in and out of the Maximum city. This ‘mass’ number of people includes communters residing permanently in Thane, Kalyan, Navi-Mumbai, etc, and beyond these areas.

One such ‘connecting line’ is the Eastern Express Highway (EEH), a prominent connector between Thane and Mumbai, which is used by motorists every day.  

Mumbai: Surge in vehicles, festival rush and illegal parking responsible for traffic woes; Read FPJ Special

As much as EEH is important for motorists, the route gets hate on a daily basis for its traffic situation. This newspaper visited EEH in its apparent crucial spots like Vikhroli, Kanjurmarg, Dadar, and Priyadarshi Circle areas to find out what it’s like for the commuters to travel. It was known that the non-peak hours at EEH are far better than the Western Express Highway (WEH), another prominent route in Mumbai.

The usual traffic accumulation happens at EEH in the morning from 7 to noon, and similarly in the evening from 5 to 10 at night. Between these hours, during the afternoon, EEH is very peaceful and provides smooth movement to motorists.

Jitendra Gupta, founding member of the Citizen Transport Committee and traffic expert said, "Encroachment on Road especially by illegal parking is main issue for taking away much of the usable road space from eastern suburbs roads. Kurla depot LBS Marg, Ghatkopar Mankhud Link Road, all face this issue where entire footpath is taken away along with 2 motor-able lanes by illegal parking.

"And this happens even right outside Traffic Police chocki at Kurla depot, which proves that either traffic police is not serious in keeping out roads encroachment free or  unable to do so due reasons best known to them. Hope traffic police accountability gets fixed to remove this nexus between the police and encroachers so that ordinary Mumbaikar gets some relief from continuous traffic jams."

Mumbai traffic cops to take action against taxi, auto drivers refusing shorter rides

"On going metro work is another issue for traffic jams and each every such area is in darkness due to Metro project heavy machinery movement destroying electricity cables. MMDRA has failed to enforce contractors to provide illumination on roads as well mark danger signs and danger lights at such spots. Once metro projects get over, may be eastern suburbs would get some relief from traffic jams," further added Gupta.

According to Gupta, the Eastern suburbs also face the issue of increased rickshaws, following government relaxation in issuing fresh permits since 2015. The number of rickshaws on the road is replacing taxi service.

Reckless driving by rickshaws, especially those that ferry on sharing, is the most dangerous situation on road for elderly, women and children. Police is simply helpless in controlling such rash driving, as well as noise pollution created by such erring drivers. A strictly no-tolerance policy by police is the only solution to the problem. 

Talking to this newspaper, a local traffic cop who manages the traffic in the Dadar TT area said, “EEH is different traffic, compared to the other prominent routes in Mumbai. If there is an off day, or long weekends, or public holidays, EEH would be almost empty. People mostly travel via EEH for “work purposes”, and not for daily chores, or joy-ride purposes. This is why EEH is usually also empty during the afternoon as that’s the time office-goers are inside their offices!”

Mumbai traffic updated: Accident, absence of traffic cop blocks city traffic, citizens tweet their grievance

EEH, which is managed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), also seldom gets the heat of commuters due to its frequent traffic choke-ups! Especially due to heavy rains, bad roads, and traffic mismanagement. In areas between Mulund, Kanjurmarg, and Vikhroli, there have been many complaints regarding traffic congestion and stuck-ups.

The Vikhroli junction, where EEH is connected to Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Junction is yet another route, which is referred to as a ‘headache’ by some commuters. The segment of JVLR also connects to the LBS Marg Junction, which is a synonym for traffic bottlenecks.

JVLR, which also has an ongoing construction of Line 6 of the Mumbai Metro, creates daily chaos for motorists who struggle to get through the bad traffic daily.

The L&T Flyover, a popular spot for working professionals working in the Powai, Andheri, and Kanjurmarg areas, has daily building complaints about worsening traffic due to illegal parking, encroachments, and the absence of traffic cops to manage traffic. 

In the eastern south, the Sion-Trombay Road in Chembur, along with the Mankhurd Railway Bridge is the road that commuters detest the most. On the good side, the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road has apparently benefitted the commuters who travel from the eastern suburbs towards the Bandra-Kurla Complex.

Commuters Speak:

“I have been travelling from Thane to Dadar for more than a decade, via road, for work. In the last few years, things have started to change, as more vehicles have been added to the roads, the roads seem to get bad more frequently now, and the traffic gets messier every day. If you ask me if I will choose trains since road traffic is bad, I will say no and continue my road travel. At least I am able to breathe inside my car, even if I reach late to work and home. But that’s my privilege! It would be great if traffic is managed better on roads by traffic.” – Dinesh Vishwanath, Businessman. Residence: Thane

“It’s high time roads get advanced by technology and we shed away the traditional setup of traffic management and road construction. These glitches cause headaches on an everyday basis, especially when people like me who don’t have any alternate medium of traveling. Being handicapped I have to be dependent on road vehicles to reach everywhere, but it gets frustrating when I have to spend an additional 4 hours daily just on roads, stuck in traffic.” – Vishnu Kumar, Gold Business. Residence: Sion

Mumbai's Vehicular Statistics:

Total number of vehicles registered with Mumbai RTO ( Eastern ) (as of March 2022) - 10,14,453

Two-wheelers - 6,46,653

Cars - 2,20,519

Meter taxi - 7,345

Tourist cab - 18,596

Auto Rickshaw - 79,268

Mini bus - 1,775

School Bus - 381

Ambulance - 452

Truck - 1,065

Delivery vans ( four-wheelers) - 18,555

Delivery vans (three-wheelers) -10,317

Tractors - 46

Trailers - 27

Other vehicles - 9,454

Readers who wish to give feedback/narrate their own stories of traffic woe can reacch out to us at: [email protected] / [email protected]