The entry/exit points 3 and 9 at the 5 Road Junction (Vasudev Balwant Phadke Chowk) near Metro Cinema in South Mumbai have been shut due to ongoing maintenance and other operational reasons, leading to inconvenience for the pedestrians and college-going students.
The pedestrian subway is the safest, as the junction has heavy traffic movement. While the exit/entry 9 next to the Metro Cinema has been shut for more than a month, the entry/exit 3 has been closed for three weeks. The subway was recently praised by many citizens following its renovations, but since entry/exit 3 and 9 have been closed, the inconvenience is now catching up to the people.
Paul Joseph, a student asks when will the gates reopen
“Our college is close to the junction. Entry 9 was our chosen path from the station to our college, as it lets us avoid the road traffic. Since it’s been closed, we have to time our run across the huge road and pray that we don’t get hit by any vehicle,” said Tarun Joseph, a college student.
The inconvenience has further increased due to the arrival of the monsoon. “It becomes even harder for us to cross the road when it rains. Yes, we can take the other entry/exit, but we anyway have to cross the road to reach there, and when it rains heavily, we never know which vehicle might skid or lose control on the wet roads,” said Paul Joseph, a student who resides nearby and uses the subway to reach his college.
Lifts along the staircases are also not working. Pics/Ashish Raje
The 5 Junction Road is notoriously known for its heavy traffic movement. “I shifted to Mumbai two weeks ago, and the first day I got stuck in the middle of the road and felt like a deer in headlights. It took me five minutes to cross one part of the road to reach the next open subway,” said a woman pedestrian.
Speaking to mid-day, a security guard working in the subway said that the ways are closed due to work being done on the ceilings. The lifts along the staircases in the junctions have also not been working for the last few weeks, he said. “Since it started raining, the lift shaft has filled with water, rendering the lift useless. We are waiting for the authorities to take action and improve it,” he added.
Tarun Joseph, college student
The lifts in such subways are for the use of physically disabled people, and when conditions of such public amenities remain deteriorating, they have to choose to walk on the road rather than risk it with the stairs to the subway.
“I cannot take the stairs at all; my crutches are not meant for it, so I walk on the road to cross the junction since the lifts have stopped working. I am literally playing with my life daily with this choice of stairs or road, and I don’t see anyone putting in any effort to make this situation better,” said a person who works and resides close to the junction.
