Kalyan-Murbad road gets monsoon ready, residents thank vigilant school

The Kalyan-Murbad National Highway in India, which includes a route used by school buses, has been concretised and made safe for monsoon season by the National Highway Authority of India following a two-year campaign by school authorities and citizens.The road was in poor condition with potholes and was dug up in places. The work was stalled several times but Sacred Heart School and locals continued to demand speedy action.

KALYAN: After a two-year long battle to have a safe commuting road for school students by school authorities and citizens on the Kalyan - Murbad National Highway has come to an end, as the road is now being concretised and made monsoon ready by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

After 2 year long battle by a school administration in Kalyan’s Varap locality,the deadly Kalyan - Murbad national highway road outside the school is monsoon ready (Pramod Tambe/ HT PHOTO)

The Kalyan - Murbad stretch is a vital one that connects Kaan to Murbad - Ahmednagar. This is the only route to connect these places as there is no railway route, and there are around five schools falling on this stretch with many school buses plying daily.

The NHA had undertaken the road concretisation work on this stretch. The three-km stretch of the NH was in very bad condition with several portions dug up, waterlogged and full of potholes.

Last year, the school staff staged a protest, initiated repairing of the road after the school students were forced to walk to school due to heavy traffic congestion. The school administration and the locals have been demanding speeding up of the work which has been going at a slow pace.

“The work is in the final stage and the road outside the school looks safer than before. This monsoon we will not have to worry about unsafe commuting on the road right outside the school entrance,” said Albin Antony, administrator of Sacred heart school.

“The road work was stalled several times however we had that dedication to ensure and get the work done. We highlighted the loopholes and demanded speedy work on this patch and finally the result can be seen,” added Albin.

In January, the administrator of the school in Kalyan on Tuesday staged a sit-in protest on the waterlogged road outside the school entrance after a school student suffered an injury.

In March again in the face-off between citizens and city authorities, the staff of Sacred Heart School hired a band and did a merry jig after their protests forced the authorities to resume the work on NH 61 which had been stalled for two days.

The school administration and staff called a protest outside the residence of state Public Works Department (PWD) minister Ravindra Chavan to bring to his notice that the work had stopped again.

“The entire credit for the road work to be undertaken with priority goes to the school. Otherwise, this monsoon would have been very unsafe. Now it looks better with most portions concretised,” said Pankaj Tripati, 45, a commuter who takes the stretch daily to Murbad.