Toll waiver relieving, traffic snarls at Mulund

22 August, 2018

Thane : Irrespective of the toll waiver being implemented in order to ease traffic congestion in the city, there was huge traffic jam during the morning peak hours on Tuesday due to breakdown of two vehicles and slow moving traffic because of the potholes.

Though the commuters were glad that they did not have to pay any toll for a month now, they were equally disappointed as they had to face traffic congestion, just like every day, due to the bad road condition. The residents had anticipated that there will be less congestion due to the toll waiver but they were displeased when the results were not as they were expecting.

"Since the onset of monsoon there have been potholes, due to which the traffic moves slowly, plus the lane to pay the toll is long which adds up to the congestion. When the waiver was announced we were hoping that the snarls will be less but the situation was like every day and it took me over an hour to reach Mulund from Thane. Till the time the road is not repaired the congestion will continue as the vehicles will be moving slowly," Atul Ghangurde, resident of Pokhran road 1.

The traffic department here stated that there was huge congestion from 8am to almost 9:30am during the office hours as there was a breakdown of two vehicles. While one tanker had broken down near the octroi naka, Anand Nagar, an ambulance was punctured and was stuck at the Teen hath Naka bridge.

"Both the ambulance and the oil tanker were blocking the lanes due to which the congestion went up till Cadbury bridge. Such breakdowns are quite common during the monsoon especially as many do not do the maintenance work of their tankers or trailers and even a 10 minute back-log leads to congestion of over half-an-hour. The toll waiver will have an impact of merely around 15 to 20 percent as the vehicles will continue to move slowly because of the potholes and the bottle neck at the Kopri Bridge: said Anil Mangale, traffic inspector at Thane traffic department.

The toll authorities were making sure not to collect toll from any private vehicle owners but small tempos were asked to pay money for entering or while exiting the city. It was even seen that the few commuters who were not aware of the waiver were trying to pay the toll but were asked to move ahead without paying the Rs 35, for entering into the city.

The commuters who had recently renewed their monthly pass were upset as for them the toll waiver would not be free.

The decision of the toll waiver was taken by Eknath Shinde, minister in charge of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation as there used to be huge traffic congestion due to the diversions of the Mumbra bypass. The heavy vehicles which used to take the Mumbra Bypass route since May 7 as the repair work of the 3km long road have since been taking the internal city roads at night and in the afternoon.

Till the time the road is not repaired the congestion will continue as the vehicles will be moving slowly. When the waiver was announced we were hoping that the snarls will be less but the situation was like every day and it took me over an hour to reach Mulund from Thane.

 

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com