With barricades on arterial roads for Metro work worsening traffic congestions, its a hellish ride through traffic gridlocks for Mumbaikars every day. Making the situation worse is illegal and haphazard parking of vehicles near barricades. In a bid to ease congestion, the Mumbai Traffic Police (MTP) has issued a circular which states that any vehicle if found parked near the barricades shall be towed immediately. It also states that parking of vehicles is prohibited from 7 am till 10 pm on every stretch of roads where barricades have been installed for metro work. The move comes after the traffic cops noticed that extensive barricading has simultaneously reduced the carriageway width of roads. With roads narrowed, the average speed of vehicles too goes down leading to traffic congestion. Work on Metro corridors in the city is being executed simultaneously, each at a different stage of completion. "Apart from Metro work, works related to other mega projects, sewerage lines, water lines, road repairs etc are also being carried out by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). This might narrow down the roads further. Thus, parking of vehicles has been prohibited completely. If found flouting order, the vehicle will be towed away and the owners will face action," said a traffic police officer, adding, "After the order was passed, we have towed many vehicles across the western suburbs." Barricading for elevated Metros takes up 9 metres of road space. Roads that have barricades include Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR), Eastern Express Highway (EEH), Western Express Highway (WEH), Swami Vivekanand Road (SV Road) and Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg (LBS Marg). Adding to the chaos is traffic diversions due to monsoons and closure of bridges by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Removed/Squeezed

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