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Potholes on Sion-Panvel highway yet to be repaired, commuters bear the brunt
The engineer claimed that the traffic police did not allow them to undertake repair work as it would lead to traffic congestion on the stretch. But surprisingly, the ground situation is no different now as the road sees extreme traffic congestion often stretching over a kilometre
Mumbai: Traffic jams and serpentine queues of vehicles on the Sion-Panvel highway have become a common feature for motorists.
Even as commuters’ patience continues to be tested while driving on this stretch, both the Public Works Department (PWD) and the traffic police are blaming each other for the delay in undertaking repair work on the highway.
As per the PWD officials, the delay in road repair work is due to permission not being granted by the Traffic police department.
However, the traffic department stated that the permission was denied only for a short period because of construction work on Mumbra bypass, and the road work on the Sion-Panvel highway has been going on for the past four years.
“This highway does not have potholes, it has craters. I am now well-versed with which part of the road has patches of potholes. The traffic jams are only caused by those motorists who are not familiar with the road and get stuck,” said Rehan Sheikh, a daily commuter.
The pothole-affected area includes Uran Phata junction, approach road to Jui Nagar flyover, approach road to Sanpada flyover, road towards Vashi toll Naka.
Deepak Singh, a Nerul-based social activist, had taken up the issue with both the authorities. The activist is also the petitioner of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed in 2018 about the worsening condition of the roads in the city.
“I have been consistently asking the PWD to get the road (Sion-Panvel highway) repaired before the onset of monsoons. Now, everyone can see that nothing has been done. It was due to such erroneous practices that, in May, my nephew lost his life on this road while riding his bike,” said Singh.
Concerned that other motorists might meet a similar fate, the activist sought the commissioner of police to take suo-moto action against PWD officers.
However, during an interaction with a PWD engineer, the activist was informed about the role of the traffic police department.
“The engineer claimed that the traffic police did not allow them to undertake repair work as it would lead to traffic congestion on the stretch. But surprisingly, the ground situation is no different now as the road sees extreme traffic congestion often stretching over a kilometre,” said Singh.
Ranjeet Hande, chief engineer, PWD, confirmed that the traffic police not giving permission is one of the reasons for the delay in repair work but said that the work will be finished at the earliest.
“Due to continuous rains, there are a lot of potholes on this stretch. Asphalting work is going on. The concretisation of the approach road to the flyover is also underway, and repair work will also speed up once the weather conditions are better,” said Hande.
Meanwhile, the traffic department said that permission for road repair was only denied for a short while.
The road work on Mumbra Bypass in April-June was stated to be one of the reasons for not permitting repair work on Sion-Panvel highway.
“The work on the Mumbra bypass resulted in heavy traffic congestion on the Sion-Panvel highway. Therefore, permission was not given for any repair work between April 5 to June 14,” said Tirupati Kakade, deputy commissioner of police, Traffic department.
“Now, the delay is because of heavy rainfall. Nevertheless, repair work is still being done, and we are giving all possible assistance to reduce traffic congestion,” added Kakade.
