Mumbai Coastal Road tunnel reports 38 breakdowns and 2 accidents in 3 months, sparking safety and design concerns | X/ vivekgupta
Mumbai: In the last three months (February-March-April), as many as 38 incidents of vehicle breakdowns and two accidents have been reported inside the Coastal Road tunnel in south Mumbai. The number of incidents is alarming, raising concerns over emergency response in the tunnel from the authorities. Soon, the remaining three arms of the Coastal Road are set to open, and by July it is expected to be operational 24/7, thereby increasing the traffic flow.
As the four-lane Coastal Road decreases to two lanes in the tunnel, and breakdown inside this bottleneck causes major disruption to traffic. While there are also incidents of high-end car racing resulting in accidents on the coastal road. But the authorities are still working on installing speed cameras to monitor speeding.
“Perhaps when they designed the tunnel, they expected vehicle breakdowns to be rare. Hence, didn’t think it necessary to plan better for such frequent disruption,” said activist Zoru Bhathena.
As per the data from BMC’s Coastal Road department, from February to March 2025, out of total 38 vehicle breakdowns, 90% were taxis; there were two car accidents. While another emergency included ‘a man walking inside the Coastal Road tunnel’.
The BMC said that when any emergency arises, it also makes announcements through its system. However, out of the total 38 car breakdowns in the last three months, in only a couple of incidents, the motorists made use of the ‘Emergency Call Box’ from the tunnel.
The 3.4 km long twin tunnel of the Coastal Road, including the entry and exits, connects Marine Drive to Breach Candy. The road further expands to four lanes and connects to Worli.
Activist Debi Goenka said, “BMC failed to consider the design of the tunnel. Instead of a 4+4 lane tunnel, they have built a 2.5+2.5 lane tunnel. This itself shows how badly the coastal road project has been designed. It is therefore not surprising that we are facing the kind of problems that are occurring regularly. The BMC, of course, is living up to its reputation of not being able to maintain anything, and the traffic police today have no clue on how to manage traffic.”
However, the BMC says its emergency responses are quick and considering the high number of cars plying on the coastal road, even a 10-minute vehicle breakdown results in a traffic jam.
“We have a control room at the PDP junction and a towing vehicle. Although there are ‘Emergency Call Box’ every 100 meters in the tunnel, most of the emergencies, like car breakdowns and accidents, are responded to by the control room itself via CCTV monitoring. The towing van is deployed within 10 minutes, and the traffic jam is eased at the earliest,” said Chief Engineer (Coastal Road) MM Swami.
Speaking with The Free Press Journal, Traffic Department’s DCP Pradnya Jedge stated that vehicles other than buses frequently use the bus lane on Coastal Road, often at very high speeds.
“To take action against such violations, we have requested the BMC to install CCTV cameras and speed cameras every 300 metres along the Coastal Road,” she said. The move is aimed at enhancing road safety.
Bhathena also questioned the number of car breakdowns in the coastal road tunnel. “Car breakdowns in Mumbai are rare. So, why are cars breaking down so frequently inside the tunnel? That is something that ought to be investigated.”
Breach Candy resident and activist N Lakhani said, “It is good to have emergency phones at every few hundred metres, but at times it is difficult to reach there to connect. It would be better if signboards are placed at regular intervals, mentioning the breakdown van in-charge contact numbers.”
“Also, the majority of the accidents happen as the motorists are in a rush and they use the bus lane to overtake. These drivers need to be fined for breaking the rules,” Lakhani added.
With inputs by Poonan Apraj
