Mumbai Coastal Road tunnel witnesses congestion, several motorists complain of suffocation

The stretch outside the southern end of the Coastal Road tunnel was also packed with traffic. File pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The southbound stretch of the Coastal Road, as well as south Mumbai in general, were badly congested on Friday morning, with commuters expressing frustration about having to wait inside the tunnel linking Worli and Girgaon for an extended amount of time.

A commuter told mid-day, "The traffic congestion in the tunnel was horrible this morning."

Another commuter said, "I have been stuck inside the tunnel for 10 minutes and have to cross a 1.3-km stretch to come out of it. I am heading towards Mantralaya for a hearing, but I fear it will be cancelled. I have faced a similar situation once before."

Another commuter said, "It is extremely suffocating inside the tunnel. They have not made enough provisions for ventilation. It seems like ‘vikas' is suffocating the city as the engines of our vehicles are running and burning fuel while our vehicles are stationary."

"A bus carrying Shiv Sena MLAs was also stuck inside the tunnel in the morning," he added.

BMC Speak

A BMC official said, "The tunnels have a Saccardo ventilation system, which includes air jets that have a velocity of around three metres per second. The highest speed of the system is such that the speed of the wind is three metres per second at the south end of the tunnel [at Girgaon]. We adjust the speed as per the requirement. We haven't received complaints of suffocation. But if that is the case, then we will increase the speed."

BMC officials claimed the congestion at Marine Lines was not related to the Coastal Road but overall traffic situation on roads.

M Ramkumar, additional commissioner of police (traffic), said, "Southbound traffic on the Coastal Road witnessed congestion on Friday morning. Not only the tunnel but also the patch outside it not associated with the Coastal Road also witnessed a jam, disrupting traffic movement. The northbound patch did not witness any congestion."

With inputs from Prajakta Kasale

2.07 km
Length of tunnel