Sunday, May 27, 2007

MEGA BLOCK


Many Mumbaiites living in the far suburbs are bearing the brunt of 'Mega Block' on the Western Railway Lines. For those who don't know, by 'Mega Block' means the total stopping of train seva between Borivali and Virar and partial stoppage between Goregaon and Borivali between night of 25th May to morning of 28th May.

This is on account of the quadrupling work (four tracks, including to the existing two) between Borivali and Virar. Though this belt is the most congested in the world, at present there are only two railway tracks (up and down) in this belt. Mumbai Railways on the Western Lines is divided into two parts - Churchgate to Borivali and Borivali to Virar. The latter includes a part of Mumbai- Dahisar (Mumbai Municipal Corpn) and Mira-Bhayander (separate and unique Municipal Coprn, though place is part of Thane Dist) and extends beyond to Virar (Thane Municipal Corpn). At present, there are 4 tracks between Churchgate and Borivali belt and only two beyond. Hence the local trains plying beyond Borivali (Virar trains) have to share their tracks with outstation trains too. This results in lesser trains and large gaps between two consecutive trains resulting into overcrowding and congestion.

People in this belt face a big commuting problem. Men even travel atop the trains and even precariously hang out, risking their lives nearly everyday. Many women also travel on one foot or half heels inside the train and half heels outside ! Accidents are common along this belt. People living in these areas have been crying for better train facilities since many years. Their dreams will hopefully be a reality soon! The quadrupling project which began in 1990s was always halted or delayed due to number of reasons like - hutments in the way of the proposed tracks and many other ones!

With population in the Borivali to Virar region rising (reason being rising real estate rates in main Mumbai and people moving for cheaper and bigger flats beyond), the commuting problem worsened. After many strong agitations and signature campaigns and public letters to Laloo, the last one year has finally seen some headway in the Quadrupling project! After that Mumbai has seen a few 'mega blocks' but mostly during the weekends. Still the deadline of December 2006 could not be met. After that the court extended the deadline to 30th June, 2007. After that work speedened up and we've been seeing daily changes at Mira Road station. Its mainly Dahisar, Mira Road and Bhayander where the work had stuck up!

The Ongoing Mega Block which started at 11 pm on 25th May, 2007 and will end at 6 am on 28th May (Mumbaikars start travelling much before 6 am and travel much beyond 11 pm!) is supposed to be the last Mega Block before the completion of the Quadrupling project.

Many Mumbaikars living in far suburbs have taken leave from their offices to avoid inconvenience of travelling. Though BEST bus services are supposed to increase to take the additional burden, a bus cannot accomodate as much as a train does including those travelling atop it! Mumbai travels in trains and when trains halt, Mumbai comes to a halt !

11 comments:

samurai said...

why does the existing track need to be closed to lay new tracks,the photo is amazing,the crowds seem unimaginable,what is the distance of the western line?

Shagufta said...

Welcome back, my critic! Some trains are being run on and off.. no one knows the time... so mostly they are running empty. People are relaxing at home this weekend. The ones beyond Borivali and without a car! The distance from Churchgate (1st station of Western line) to Virar (last station termed LOCAL) is 60 kms. Why they closed existing tracks to start new ones? Actually work is going on since long, but some work requires connecting the tracks and in between work too, so for that kinda work, mega block had to happen. Any more ques?

samurai said...

how was ur weekend,shagufta?
the problem lies in the single direction that mumbai has to expand?
u stay beyond virar ?

Shagufta said...

Dumbo, If I stayed beyond Virar, then I wudn't be a Mumbaikar nor wud have had any problem. I stay between Borivali to Virar, which is where the problem is!

I saw Cheeni Kam this weekend. Its too good!

samurai said...

is cheeni a hindi word

Shagufta said...

Arre babu... ur cheeni quotient is less, seems like. Cheeni means 'Sugar'. It also means Chinese. Guess wat this movie means!

U tell me whether the Bingo ad is correct! Does Vaango mean 'Come' and 'Ukaaringo' mean 'Go'? :)

samurai said...

i knew it means sugar,shakkar also is sugar?
is it hindi?
paresh rawal being 58 sounds hilarious.
there seem to be tradeoffs between independence and making the right decision.
i ll try to see the movie in blore.
vaango is probably a part of the slang among tamils in mumbai.
amitabh s getting lots of roles like this,u saw nishabd?

Shagufta said...

Shakkar is Sugar and so is Cheeni! And Hindi-Cheeni is also bhai bhai! :) Have u heard of the AP issue? So if u want to go China, u can shift to AP! Ain't that funny?

I don't want to see Nishabd. Thats gross! That's a man with family and kids going crazy over a teenager. It's little bearable till there. But falling in love and blah blah with ur daughter's friend when u have ur own family and acting irresponsible is stupid !

Cheeni Kam is about two mature unmarried people, who have not yet found the man/ woman of their type yet, meeting and falling in love and taking the decision to marry much to the annoyance of girl's father! But if u don't understand Hindi, how can u understand the movie?

samurai said...

i can read and write hindi,but i dont have a chance to speak much.i asked about cheeni bcos ive heard it here also.the movie sounds like itll be heartwarming,uve seen american beauty,its a poignant movie ,similar to nishabd, but in the american context,its a great movie.

Shagufta said...

The thought doesn't appeal to me! Leaving ur family and wife without a reason for ur fantasies!

samurai said...

its an unimaginable thing to do,the movie was a good one,though.