Gadkari delayed by Mumbai traffic by nearly an hour, pitches new technology to replace ageing flyovers
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari arrived late to a Mumbai event due to traffic, prompting him to call for the replacement of aging flyovers with modern technology. He acknowledged his own role in past infrastructure projects that are now struggling to handle current traffic volumes.
Why it matters
The comments highlight the challenges of urban planning and the need for infrastructure modernization in rapidly growing Indian cities.
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari arrived nearly an hour late for an event in Mumbai after getting caught in the city’s traffic, an experience he used to acknowledge the limitations of infrastructure built during his own tenure as Maharashtra’s public works Minister and call for ageing flyovers to be replaced using newer technology.
Mr. Gadkari was travelling from Worli to attend the 22nd Indo-American Corporate Excellence Awards in Mumbai when he was delayed in traffic. Addressing the gathering after reaching the venue, he pointed to his delayed arrival before turning to Mumbai’s larger congestion problem.
“Today I got late by an hour,” Mr. Gadkari said, before joking that he was “paying for my mistake” — a reference to the road infrastructure developed when he was Maharashtra’s PWD Minister in the 1990s.
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