Ajit Pawar writes to CM Shinde for repair of Mumbai-Nashik Highway
Taking cognisance of the pathetic condition of the Mumbai-Nashik Highway, the leader of the opposition, Ajit Pawar, has drafted a letter to the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to repair the highway to avoid accidents and regular traffic snarls
Taking cognisance of the pathetic condition of the Mumbai-Nashik Highway, the leader of the opposition, Ajit Pawar, has drafted a letter to the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to repair the highway to avoid accidents and regular traffic snarls.
The Mumbai-Nashik Highway, which is a vital link between Thane, Bhiwandi and Kalyan, has developed huge craters while the road surface has worn off at many stretches after the recent spells of rain. Motorists take two to three hours merely to commute between Kalyan and Thane, which is less than an hour apart. The story is the same every monsoon with no permanent measures being taken to develop the highway. The highway witnesses high density of heavy vehicle traffic. Potholes lead to slow moving of these vehicles, leading to serpentine queues.
In his letter to the CM, Pawar said, “Since the start of the monsoon, the condition of the roads in the State is pathetic, especially the condition of the National Highways, leading to humongous traffic jams. The increase in number of potholes has also increased the accidents on this highway, leading to death of many motorists. There is also an increase in the number of spine-related ailments, while the pollution levels in the city too have increased. The motorists along the Mumbai-Nashik Highway are putting their lives on stake everyday to reach work.”
Pawar has further asked the CM to give directives to take up repair works along the highway.
He added, “The work of filling the potholes, repairing the road, speeding up the flyover works and restricting the movement of heavy vehicles should be taken up on war footing. It is essential to work on long-time measures by involving elected representatives, commuters union, transport committees and local residents. Lakhs of commuters who commute on this highway daily will benefit from timely solutions.”
The highway is maintained by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation. An officer said, “We have two mobile teams stationed on the highway and repair the potholes as and when there is a dry spell.”
Motorist Bhushan Aher, 35, of Kalyan said, “During the monsoon every year, the story is the same. We spend hours in traffic on this road. It takes over two-and-a-half hours to commute between Kalyan and Thane during the peak hours due to bad condition of the road. There is no repair work done on the road before monsoon. Only after the potholes appear do the authorities wake up and go about filling them.”
