Mumbai, Sept. 16 -- Traffic snarls in and around central Mumbai following the closure of the Elphinstone Bridge on September 12 have led to a serious concern-ambulances ferrying critical patients to the many hospitals located near the bridge are getting delayed. Most ambulance drivers have had to take alternate, longer routes through Lower Parel or Dadar to reach hospitals in Parel, such as KEM Hospital, Tata Memorial Hospital, and Gleneagles Hospital. On Monday, heavy rain and waterlogged roads exacerbated the problem, leaving ambulances stuck in traffic for hours. Asif Shah from Shah Ambulance Service told HT, "As patients turn serious, relatives start yelling at us to rush faster to the hospital. But the problem is traffic. The bridge closure has forced us to take longer routes through congested roads." Shah recounted an incident on Sunday when he had to ferry a critical patient from Sion to KEM Hospital via the Eastern Express Highway. "It usually would take 15 minutes for us to get there, but the traffic we faced once we got to Parel increased by 40 minutes. The patient died once they reached the hospital." Drivers also complained of the lack of traffic management at the junctions near the bridge. "Even if the police let us through, there is hardly any space for us to get out. There has been no planning for emergency services here," said Shah. Ambulances are also being forced to take longer routes via Dadar and Mahim, with travel times crossing an hour during peak hours. Aakash Sharma from Ambucare, which transports cardiac patients, said, "There is a lot of traffic regularly as well. However, with the bridge closure, it has become so much worse. Because of the patient's condition, we cannot afford to be stuck in traffic. The families pressure us and yell at us to go faster, but there is no way out. Patients with cardiac problems and accident cases cannot afford such delays. We have not received any help from the authorities on the road." Patients who travel far and wide to reach public hospitals seeking affordable treatment bear the brunt of this burden. In one such case, a 60-year-old woman, whose family requested anonymity, had to travel nearly three hours from Bhandup to KEM Hospital to treat her kidney stones and severe kidney pain on Monday. The family got stuck in traffic on the Eastern Express Highway and then near the Elphinstone Bridge, which forced them to take alternative routes. "What would usually take us an hour, at most, took us three hours today because of the bridge closure. Her condition only worsened in the taxi, and she was almost unconscious when she got to the hospital," said the woman's brother-in-law. Several patients at KEM hospital complained of the bridge closure, saying that the digging work near the bridge also blocked roads used by ambulances. Sangeet Ravat, dean of KEM Hospital, said, "MMRDA did not inform us of this closure, and it was so sudden. How were we to prepare for this? The traffic police and MMRDA must ensure that the ambulances get through without any issue. For now, we have informed the traffic authorities to clear the road in front of the hospital of any unnecessary parked vehicles in order to give more space for ambulances." On Monday, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray wrote to Mumbai police commissioner Deven Bharti and the traffic police seeking an increase in traffic police personnel in central Mumbai following the closure of Elphinstone Bridge. "...I am aware of the immense pressure already faced by the Mumbai Police, I request that you deploy more traffic police personnel on important east-west connecting routes, especially in the areas of Mahim, Dadar, Worli, and Sewri. Otherwise, due to the lack of planning and coordination between MMRDA and the Municipal Corporation, the traffic situation for Mumbaikars will become extremely severe," his letter said. Anil Kumbhare, joint commissioner of police (traffic), said that the MMRDA has parked ambulances equipped with wheelchairs on both sides of Elphinstone Bridge for patients to reach hospitals....