‘Neglecting maintenance of vehicles leads to frequent breakdowns, traffic jams in Thane’

According to Balasaheb Patil, DCP (traffic), Thane Police, 10 to 15 vehicles have been breaking down in Thane City jurisdiction on a daily basis leading to traffic jams all over

The Central Government’s repeated extensions granted to the validity of vehicle fitness certificates have had a cascading effect on the traffic situation in Thane. With no compulsion on checking the fitness, motorists have been found to be neglecting maintenance of their vehicles, leading to frequent breakdowns and consequently daily traffic jams.

Slow-moving traffic is a common sight in Thane. Even one of the vehicles breaking down can cause a traffic backlog and the bigger the vehicle, the longer the traffic jam. (PRAFUL GANGURDE/HT PHOTO)

The Thane City has several important roads passing through it including the Eastern Express Highway, the Mumbai Nashik Highway and the Ghodbunder Road, all of which witness a collective traffic of lakhs of vehicles every day. Even a single vehicle breaking down can cause a traffic backlog and the bigger the vehicle, the longer the traffic jam.

In the early hours of October 8, a truck carrying 17 tonnes of apples from Kashmir lost control and overturned on the Manpada stretch of the Ghodbunder Road. This is the time when heavy vehicles going to and from Gujarat carrying all kinds of cargo take this road. At such a crucial time, the accident caused a traffic jam that lasted for four hours. A subsequent investigation into the incident by the police revealed that the truck’s steering had developed a fault; something that could have been avoided had the truck’s fitness been checked on time as per the earlier rules.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has set certain time limits for validity of vehicle fitness, which are different for private vehicles and commercial ones. On September 30 this year, the Central Government, owing to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic, extended the validity of all vehicles till October 30. Prior to that, on June 30, the validity was extended to September 30 for the same reason.

“According to the data collected from our control room, 10 to 15 vehicles have been breaking down in Thane City jurisdiction on a daily basis, leading to traffic jams all over. The situation becomes particularly bad when it is a heavy vehicle like a truck, and even worse when such a vehicle overturns and spills its cargo on the road. We have been attending to daily calls of vehicle breakdowns and resultant traffic jams for the last six to seven months,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Balasaheb Patil, Thane Police, said.

He added that in majority of such cases, the fitness of the vehicles has not been checked for over a year or in some cases since the pandemic began. Since the extension of the fitness is a Central Government decision, local transport authorities or police cannot enforce a policy different than the Centre’s.

“We have held repeated meetings with around 25 transport unions based in Thane, urging them to ask their union members to check their vehicle fitness even though getting a fresh certificate is not mandatory. We also send timely reminders to all of them through WhatsApp and other platforms. However, the daily instances of vehicle breakdowns continue and so do the traffic jams,” Patil said.

When contacted, Ravi Gaikwad, Regional Transport Officer, Thane, declined to comment saying he would have to consult the latest data on the issue first.