10 Roads and Transport

NMMC - Environmental Status Report 2003 -2004 10 Roads and Transport 10.1 Present Status National Highway 4 (NH-4) passes through the NMMC area. Navi Mumbai is connected by road and rail to Thane, Kalyan, Mumbai, JNPT, Uran and Panvel. The work of Thane-Belapur railway is in progress, the construction of railway stations is complete and rail link shall be commissioned soon. Navi Mumbai is close to Sahara International and Chhatrapati Shivaji domestic airport. A new airport is planned in Navi Mumbai. There is a network of roads about 327 km in length in NMMC area. (Table 10.1.1). There are footpaths and pathways along major roads. Total length of footpaths and walkways is over 47.24 km. (Table 10.1.2). Navi Mumbai has six rail corridors, 157 km railway system and an independent mainline rail terminal connecting the city directly to other parts of the country. Vashi, Sanpada, Juinagar, Nerul and Belapur in Navi Mumbai are on Harbour line of the central railway. Plan to develop a domestic airport i n Navi Mumbai is in the offering. The proposed trans-harbor link between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai is further expected to enhance the status of this city by forming yet another link with Mumbai. View Of Palm Beach road Table 10.1.1 Details of Roads in NMM C Area Sr. No. Type of Road Length, km Earthen roads 0.00 2. WBM roads 33.93 3. Bituminous roads 291.91 4. Cement concrete roads 0.66 Total 326.50 (Source: City Engineer, NMMC.) 48 NMMC - Environmental Status Report 2003 -2004 Table 10.1.2: Details of Walkways and Footpaths in NMMC Ar ea Zone Total length, m. Walkways Footpaths Total CBD Belapur 1,300 5060 6360 Nerul 1,850 1,975 3825 Vashi 1,240 10,788 12028 Turbhe 2,044 6,264 8308 Koparkhairane 0 368 368 Ghansoli 2,800 0 2800 Airoli 2,500 7,500 10000 Digha 3,550 0 3550 Total 15,284 31,955 47,239 Public transport system in Navi Mumbai comprises train, bus, autorikshaw and taxi. NMMC has its own bus service. In addition the buses of BEST and Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation ply through Navi Mumbai. NMMC Transport undertaking has 176 buses catering to 44,50,009 per month (Table 10.1.3). There are over 6.41 lakh vehicles registered in Thane district of which NMMC area forms part for vehicle registration (Table 10.1.4). This has resulted in traffic problems in cert ain areas. NMMC has undertaken programme for improvement of internal roads to reduce the problem by providing additional lane for left turn, creating turning lane, parking space and signalised traffic to decongest the traffic movement. However, the major concern in traffic is increasing number of road accidents and deaths due to accidents. (Table 10.1.5) View of NMMC Transport Depot at Turbhe 49 NMMC - Environmental Status Report 2003 -2004 Table 10.1.3: Details of NMMC Transport Service during 2003-2004 Sr. No. Item 2002-2003 2003-2004 1. No. of buses 176 176 2. No. of depots 1 2 3. No of routes 24 25 4. No. of passengers travelling in a month 43,92,363 44,50,009 5. Distance travelled by buses per day, Km 39,655 40,966 6. Diesel consumed per day, litres 12,852 12746 7. Revenue per day, Rs. 8,78,857 9,13,906 8. Distance travelled per bus per day, Km. 289 299 9. No. of employees 1105 1105 (Source: NMMC Transport Undertaking) Table 10.1.4: No. of Registered Vehicles in Thane District Type 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002- 2003- 2003 2004 Two wheelers 192027 213878 243780 273433 314108 360457 Three wheelers- Autorikshaw 47121 51964 54827 60225 64373 68220 Three wheelers-Goods 6977 7580 8159 9451 11530 15979 Car/Jeep 79687 97722 120688 138619 163319 197962 Bus 3336 3476 3781 3986 4256 5126 Trucks 64000 67661 71757 75863 82478 57144 Other 8401 8912 9409 10527 948 980 Total 401549 451193 512401 572104 641012 705868 (Source: RTO, Thane) Table 10.1.5: Road Accidents in NMMC Area Jan-Dec 2001 Jan-Dec 2002 Jan- Dec 2003 No. of persons involved 1189 1094 942 Serious injuries 225 245 308 Minor injuries 213 312 304 No Injury 669 424 204 Deaths 82 113 126 Total Injured 520 557 742 Total Accidents 1056 972 895 (Source: Police Superintendent Office, Traffic Control Division, Navi Mumbai) 50 NMMC - Environmental Status Report 2003 -2004 Road Accidents in NMMC area Jan-Dec 2001 Jan-Dec 2002 Jan- Dec 2003 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 Total Minor Injured No. of injuries Deaths Total Serious injuries involved persons No Injury Accidents Figure 10.1.1 Foot paths in NMMC Area CIDCO while planning Navi Mumbai complex had provided foot paths within the city area. Foot paths are important since they are used by pedestrians which form the large cross- section of the society. Besides well maintained foot paths relieve traffic congestion problem on the road surface area thereby minimizing vehicular emission which is mainly responsible for deterioration of air quality. After handing over the area to NMMC, maintenance, repairs as well as providing additional foot paths is entrusted to NMMC. The details are in Table 10.1.6. It can be seen that construction of additional footpaths at Koparkhairne and Airoli area has been planned. Including providing slopes to the footpath for creating access to physically challanged persons. Whereas for other areas expenditure that proposed to be incurred is mainly required for repairs, maintenance and improvement. It would be seen that for Nerul area cost of maintenance and repairs is on the higher side mainly because of work of laying optical fibre cable and other utility services is under taken. View of Footpath, Road and ROB 51 NMMC - Environmental Status Report 2003 -2004 Table 10.1.6:Expenditue for Footpaths 2003-2004 Node Expenditure Rs. In lakhs 2001-02 2003-04 Belapur 23.0 26.00 Nerul 55.0 63.20 Vashi 15.0 18.22 Turbhe 15.81 16.84 Koparkhairne 153.0 166.13 Airoli 95.0 96.26 Ghansoli 28.5 24.82 Digha 21.0 23.20 Total 406.31 434.67 (Source: NMMC) 10.2 Status of Enviromental Quality Air Quality Air is clean or unpolluted in areas where no development has taken place. A chemical species foreign to the clean atmosphere is called a contaminant. A contaminant that can cause adverse effect to the receptor (human being, animals, vegetation etc) and which occurs in atmosphere in concentrations sufficiently high to cause the adverse effect is called a pollutant. Air quality is negatively affected by emissions from mobile and point sources; these are directly linked to energy consumption, environmental policy, city density, and transport by motor vehicles and concentration of industries. The main environmental problems associated with air emissions are harm to human health (eye irritation, pulmonary problems, etc) problems, the acidification and eutrophication of water and soils, and damage to natural ecosystems, cultural heritage and crops. Often these are transboundary effects, as pollutants in the air can travel a considerable distance away from their sources. In addition, emissions from sources in urban areas can have a significant local impact on human health. In India, standards have been stipulated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests under Environment Protection Act 1986 for both sources of pollution (emission) and ambient air quality. Industries are required to meet their obligations of controlling pollution under Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 require vehicles to comply with emission norms and obtain pollution under control certificate. Results of air quality monitoring carried out during May-June 2004 (Table 10.2.1) reveal that air pollutant levels in residential areas in NMMC are within the standards for respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NOx). However, values of suspended particulate matter and carbon monoxide are above standards. This is mainly due to traffic pollution. This is further confirmed by the monitoring carried out at the traffic junctions (Table 10.2.2). Concentrations of RSPM, SO2 and NOx were found alarming. 52 NMMC - Environmental Status Report 2003 -2004 Table 10.2.1: Ambient Air Quality in NMMC Area 3 3 Location RSPM TSPM SO 2 mg/m NOx mg/m CO mg/m 3 mg/m 3 mg/m 3 CBD Belapur 54 202 10.3 22.7 5.2 Nerul 64 194 11.5 21.5 4.7 Vashi 60 179 11.0 22.8 4.9 Turbhe 86 230 13.3 28.5 6.1 Koparkhairne Dumpin ground 83 250 18.3 18.5 4.8 Ghansoli 74 196 13.7 21.4 4.7 Airoli 65 240 13.2 28.6 4.5 Digha 65 219 17.6 30.6 6.2 Standards 100 200 80 80 4.0 Note: All standards are for 24 hours except for CO, which is for 1 hour. Sampling carried out on May 2004 Ambient Air Quality 300 250 RSPM mg/m3 200 TSPM 150 SO2 mg/m3 100 50 NOx mg/m3 Conc mg/cum 0 Nerul Vashi Airoli Digha Turbhe Ghansoli Standards CBD Belapur Koparkhairne DG Figure 10.2.1 In order to assess the combined effect of various air pollutants air quality indices are used. Two types of indices have been used to assess air quality in NMMC area. First air quality index AQI1 based on total suspended matter, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen. The second AQI2 is based on respirable particulate matter, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide reveals that air quality is fair (AQI 49-53).

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