Roads with potholes add to commuters’ woes

Over the last few days, commuters using the Mumbai Nashik Expressway and Bhiwandi Bypass have had to face a harrowing time due to frequent traffic jams caused by the increasing number of potholes that have cropped up on the stretches between Thane and Kalyan in the wake of incessant rainfall.

The stretch falls in the constituency of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is also the MLA from Thane and the guardian minister. His son Shrikant Shinde is an MP from Bhiwandi.

Commuters travelling to and from Kalyan, Bhiwandi, Nashik and parts of North Maharashtra have complained that they were forced to spend over two to three hours navigating stretches which they would otherwise commute in 15-20 minutes.

About 20-25 kms of a potholed stretch of the Mumbai-Nashik highway, between Majiwada in Thane and the Wadape in Bhiwandi, has caused major traffic snarls leaving regular commuters on cars, two-wheelers and public transport stranded for hours together almost everyday.

Agencies such as MSRDC, MMRDA, PWD and the Thane Municipal Corporation are responsible for ensuring upkeep of the stretch.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Kamble, who holds additional charge of the traffic department in Thane city, said the regular, end-to-end snarls are the result of gaping potholes and poor state of the road on the Saket Bridge and Kharegaon Toll Naka. He added that  the traffic police department was coordinating with different agencies, including the MMRDA and the TMC, for running urgent repairs on the road.

“The traffic moves slowly due to the potholes. However, we are working to reduce jams and restore normal traffic movement. We have managed to sort out issues related to vehicular movement towards Gujarat but the problem on the stretch leading to Nashik persists. However, the agencies are working to fix the potholes at the earliest,”Kamble said.

Thousands of distressed commuters vented their anger on social media.

Sneha Singh, who travels from Thane to Mankoli regularly, said the roads are in “pathetic state” and riddled with potholes.

“The Saket bridge and the Thane Creek Bridge are traffic hotspots due to their narrow lanes. The tar of the six-lane Mumbai-Nashik Highway has worn off due to heavy rainfall and is unable to carry the load of heavy commercial vehicles passing through it everyday,” Singh said, adding that commuters generally take between 15 and 30 minutes to travel from Majiwada to Ranjnoli.

“However, due to the prevailing condition of these roads and heavy traffic, commuting time has increased to about a couple of hours. An average suburbanite travelling for work faces regular time constraints due to these conditions,” she said.