Bad roads, civic work bring Thane to a crawl

11 August, 2018

Thane : Thousands of motorists travelling from Thane to their workplaces in Mumbai faced massive inconvenience during the morning peak hours of Friday thanks to ongoing projects and potholes surfacing on city roads coupled with the motormen’s agitation that delayed their schedules by several hours.

The potholes on city roads coupled with a few vehicles developing snags at crucial junctions led to massive snarls along the arterial city roads, including the Eastern Express Highway and Ghodbunder Road. The diversions of heavy traffic due to the Mumbra bypass work added to the chaos as several motorists complained of being stranded on the highways for several minutes. The work on Kopri bridge widening is also adding to the traffic congestion in the city.

“Ghodbunder Road was jammed in the morning. It took me half an hour to reach Vihang’s Inn from Manpada. The metro work has added to the chaos,” complained Swapneel Deshpande, a resident of Thane.

Another residents said it took her nearly 30 minutes to reach Kolshet from Majiwada due to the massive snarls on Friday morning. Activists and frequent commuters lashed out at the traffic department for allowing civil works simultaneously in the city that is causing snarls on a daily basis. “The Mumbra bypass is already shut due to which heavy vehicles ply on city highways. In addition, the Mumbai Metropolitan Regbion Development Authority (MMRDA) has started work on metro which is causing further narrowing of available road space along the highways leading to frequent snarls. Daily the travel time to move out from Thane and back has increased thanks to the several projects which are happening simultaneously,” lamented motorists.

“The police should have worked out a map to ensure there is minimal inconvenience to motorists. It is high time the authorities took some corrective action as hapless residents cannot endure more waiting endlessly trying to reach their respective destinations,” said an irate commuter.

Meanwhile, several residents, who wanted to travel by train said they faced massive inconvenience as several Thane locals were cancelled due to motormen’s agitation.

I travel to Mahim daily and it took me nearly 1.20 hours to cross Thane while it usually takes me not more than 30 minutes. I left home at 9:20am and right from Patlipada there was traffic congestion till Majiwada

 

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com