mumbai mumbai is infamous for its traffic snarls serpentine queues at all hours of the day which jeopardize travel plans of even its most seasoned residents the narrow gullies of cward however leave little room for pedestrians traders dominate the bhuleshwarkalbadevi areaone of mumbais most congested regionswith goods vans and handcarts maneuvering the narrow lanes transport expert indrani malkani advocated a survey of vehicles that enter the area each day as well as the time they come into the area the timings of goods vehicles entering the ward should be staggered the roads do not have the capacity for so many vehicles at a time said malkani who is part of the bmcs thinktank on transport planning parking vehicles in such areas is also a challenge pointed out malkani who advocated creating paid car parks at a certain distance so that traders dont park vehicles on the narrow streets of kalbadevi and bhuleshwar malkani suggested the rear end of the row of gymkhanas on marine drive as a possible site for the stackparking of cars she said it will involve using a metal stack that will allow cars to be parked vertically to save space the maidans and open spaces in the gymkhanas should not be touched only the rear which is parallel to the railway line should be used for parking said malkani she said a shuttle bus could then be created to ferry traders to and from the car park as well as from marine lines and charni road stations for those who travel by train such a model will automatically open up roads and footpaths she added some like chandrashekhar prabhu architect and housing activist believe in a comprehensive development plan for the area that will include cluster redevelopment most buildings in the area are dilapidated these should be brought down a comprehensive plan should include redevelopment where tenants are given accommodation based on their capacity to pay said prabhu corporator vina jain said the bmc has cluster redevelopment plans for the area but it is a longterm solution for decongestion of the ward convincing residents and landlords is a tough task till then declogging traffic in the region will also resolve many issues we also need to introduce specific parking zones to prevent random parking in lanes she said comprising one of the oldest parts of the city waterscarcity and contaminationis also a concern in the ward pipelines supplying water to these areas are as old as the structures themselves some areas have highrises which also use water from old pipelines putting additional pressure on them the best solution to the problem involves a complete redevelopment of the ward said infrastructure activist jitendra gupta a senior official in the bmcs water department said the civic body was in the process of replacing larger pipes beneath the road much contamination however happens in the network of smaller pipes running through house gullies it has much to do with the garbage thrown by residents in the space between