June 30: A ramp built by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wadala overbridge has become the bone of contention between local residents and the traffic police. The reason: it has been built on the wrong side of the bridge.The ramp was constructed nearly three years back to facilitate smooth flow of traffic, mainly tankers and container lorries from BPT and the docks, from the bridge to R A Kidwai road connecting it to the Eastern Express Highway.The problem arose when the BMC could not acquire land on the right side of Wadala overbridge to build the ramp. They came up with an `ingenious' solution and built the ramp on the other side. This meant a traffic signal would have to be placed, cutting the divider on the road and blocking traffic on the other side for some time to enable tankers to turn.The traffic police did not agree to this arrangement and declared that only those vehicles which went from R A Kidwai road to the overbridge could use the ramp. Thus, traffic was allowed to go up the ramp and not down, which was the original intention at the time of construction. The amount of traffic going up being negligible, the ramp has been under-used for some time now. Protesting the administration's lack of concern, residents on Sunday took out a morcha from Don Bosco school which culminated into a public meeting at the ramp. The protesters alleged that the diversion of traffic through residential and educational areas of Wadala posed safety hazards.Over 12,000 children attend 13 educational institutions in this area. Presently, nearly 3000 trucks and tankers use the Station Road to enter R A K Road. To ease the congestion, traffic police have now decided to route the trucks through the junction where four educational institutions, namely, Don Bosco school, Khalsa college, Veermata Jijabai Technical Institute and UDCT are located.``When the main station road cannot hold the rush, what's the point in diverting it to a smaller lane?'' asked Rajesh Gandhi, a resident. ``My child takes 15 minutes to cross the road because of the rush,'' said an anxious parent.Those who took part in the rally said they failed to understand why, despite the ramp having just two turns and the present route having five, the traffic police did not use the easier route.The protestors brushed aside the claim of the traffic police that the ramp was not wide enough. They said the entrance of the station road used by vehicles coming from the docks is nine metres, while the ramp's entrance is 19 metres.``Technically speaking, there is nothing wrong with the ramp, then why is it not being used properly?'' asked Suresh Jaisinghani, a resident near the station road.As for the police department's claim that the fault lay with BMC, the protestors claimed the administration was trying to pass the buck. ``Why should we suffer for the administration's follies?'' asked a participant.
