Traffic snarls in Thane city getting worse in monsoon

A popular observation by several Twitter users from Thane these days is that a person who leaves Thane at breakfast time usually reaches his office in Mumbai by lunch time; the office space is now shifted to buses, cars or auto rickshaws; Traffic snarls in Thane city have increased the travel time between Thane and Mumbai from one-and-a-half hours to up to three hours, especially during the monsoon

A popular observation by several Twitter users from Thane these days is that a person who leaves Thane at breakfast time usually reaches his office in Mumbai by lunch time. The office space is now shifted to buses, cars or auto rickshaws as many office goers are seen glued to laptops or con-call on their way to office to avoid getting a late mark or half-day.

Potholes in Majiwada, Thane. Traffic snarls in the city are largely due to potholes, increasing the time spent by the commuters on the road, especially during the monsoon. (PRAFUL GANGURDE/HT PHOTO)

This dire situation is all due to the traffic snarls in Thane city, which has increased the travel time between Thane to Mumbai from one-and-a-half hours to up to three hours.

One of the major choking points in the city is the Mumbai-Nashik Highway stretch from Saket or Kharegaon Bridge to Kapurbawdi Flyover. The Majiwada junction is the busiest junction in the city as it is connected to the Eastern Express Highway, Ghodbunder Road, Mumbai-Nashik Highway and the Bhiwandi Bypass. Thousands of commuters use this junction every day. A block here leads to traffic in the entire city including Ghodbunder Road, Eastern Express Highway and the LBS Road.

The main reason for the block is the entire 3-4km stretch riddled with potholes while the road is also in a bad shape. The Majiwada Flyover was inaugurated in 2015. However, every monsoon, the flyover is riddled with potholes. The situation is no different this year. However, the authorities filled the potholes on the flyover last weekend. The stretch from the arm leading towards Nashik is still pathetic while the entire road from the end of the flyover to Saket and Kharegaon Bridge is full of craters. This is also a common route for heavy vehicles going towards JNPT and Gujarat that move at a slow speed due to the potholes, adding on to the congestion.

The traffic congestion here is not bound by the ‘age-old concept of peak hours’ as motorists are stuck here anytime of the day since the last fortnight.

Twenty-five-year-old Mayur Panchal, who drove to Bhiwandi on Wednesday morning, had a harrowing time returning in the afternoon. “Just around half-an-hour distance from Bhiwandi to Kasarvadavali took me two hours, that too in the afternoon. I not only missed out on lunch but was so exhausted that I even thought of abandoning my vehicle and walking the remaining distance,” said Panchal, a resident of Kasarvadavali.

Meanwhile, Sunil Khubani, 47, had to shell out ₹200 per hour to his auto driver as he took almost three hours to travel from Vithawa to Bhiwandi. “It hardly takes an hour to reach Kalher but we had to wait for so long and were very hungry. The auto driver also made the most of the situation and charged us a bomb by the end of the journey,” said Khubani, resident of Ulhasnagar.

The flyover and the highway are maintained by several authorities who keep passing the buck for the shoddy work on the road. The Majiwada Flyover was constructed by Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation while the Nashik Highway comes under the National Highway Authority of India. Both the flyover and the road stretch, however, are now maintained by the Public Works Department, which claimed that they too were not responsible for the pathetic condition.

Sunil Patil, executive engineer, PWD, said, “We have formed teams and it is a continuous process to fill the potholes. We take rounds to monitor Ghodbunder Road and bridges. The Majiwada-Kapurbawdi Flyover was built by MSRDC but it was handed over to us for maintenance. We will send our teams to inspect and find remedial measures.”

Explaining the reason for the bad stretch of road, Pramod Nimbalkar, retired executive engineer with Thane Municipal Corporation, said, “Flyovers are built with mastic asphalt or concrete. They are made with expansion joints and bearings to sustain shocks on the pillars. Hence, they are normally sustainable during all seasons. But when potholes appear on the flyovers, they are indeed difficult to mend during monsoon, especially when traffic is continuous. Also, bad quality of expansion joints leads to cracks on the surface. To understand this, pre-monsoon checks for expansion joints and bearings are a must so as to maintain them before the onset of monsoon, rather than filling potholes during the monsoon.”

Nimbalkar added that there is also a mechanism on how to fill these potholes. “It is essential to first make the pothole rectangular before filling it, then apply a base coat of bitumen to receive cold mix or hot mix. Then, it has to be moisture-free. Proper compaction by vibratory roller is essential before actually opening for traffic. This is impossible during incessant rains or heavy traffic congestions. Hence, many prefer to fill potholes at night when the traffic is less, but one cannot rule out possibilities of rain or availability of labour at night.”

He recommended that an alternative would be to make use of inter-locking paver blocks to fill potholes during the monsoon. Potholes filled unevenly without levelling the adjoining surface only increases the size of the potholes in the long run.

Another engineer said, “The congestions at Saket, Majiwada and Kharegaon junctions are due to narrowing width of bridges over the creek. The traffic gets congested here, leading to congestion of all flyovers and internal roads in the city. The widening of eight-lane Nashik Road can ease the issue. But then, in the last two years, only 8% work has been completed. The by-pass roads to the city are essential.”

The traffic police, on the other hand, are dealing with the issues of traffic on their own. Last week, they took an initiative to fill the potholes along the Saket Bridge on their own.

Dutta Karale, DCP, Traffic, said, “We are trying to work out alternative routes to divert some of the traffic so as to ease the situation. We also have extra manpower to control traffic at various points. In the last few days, after continuous meetings and follow-ups with the PWD, MSRDC and MMRDA, we have managed to repair many lanes. Now, only Kharegaon and Saket Bridges are remaining. We have started with the same on Tuesday, but as these are very important stretches and have huge potholes, filling them will take some time but we are in touch with the authorities.”

Karale said that they have also held meetings with the Navi Mumbai and Mira-Bhayander Traffic cell to ensure that there is no overflow of traffic from their side. “As JNPT is closed on Tuesdays, often on Mondays and Fridays, there are many heavy vehicles that add to the traffic congestion. From 12 noon to 4pm, the heavy vehicles are allowed in the city but as they move slowly due to the potholes and poor condition of roads, the backlog is seen till the evening peak hours,” added Karale.

(Inputs by Linah Baliga)

VOX POP

It takes me one-and-a-quarter hour to reach Kalyan from Parel after midnight as I work late shifts. If there is traffic, at times, it will be two hours. However, since the start of the week, I took three hours to reach the office while the height of delay was on Tuesday night, when it took me four hours. For almost three hours, I was stuck near the Majiwada Junction. I left office by 12.15am and reached home at 4.15am.

Saji K Thomas, 54, resident of Kalyan

I travel from Borivali to Airoli daily. Before monsoon, it took one hour early in the morning. Now, it takes two-and-a-half hours. On Friday last, we were stuck for five hours. On Wednesday, the entire Ghodbunder Road from Vijaynagari to Majiwada and further to Jail Road was congested.

Mandar Padgaonkar, 45, resident of Borivali

On a regular basis, I travel from Kopri to Naupada for work. Apart from potholes, the reason for traffic congestion is the presence of heavy vehicles on this route during peak hours. Every day, we notice at least one vehicle breaking down on this route due to the rain. This increases the traffic snarls on a daily basis. It takes me double the usual time to reach work despite the widening of Kopri Flyover.

Sushant Manchekar, 32, resident of Kopri

TWEETS

@amitkjain Should we go to office for some productive work? Mumbaikars routine, leave home after breakfast, reach office and have lunch

@Amina1084 Thane is being utterly ignored in terms of roads. Road condition is worse than ever and the traffic situation is abysmal. When are Thaneiets going to get respite

@aartithakurjha What utter traffic chaos it has been for sometime on Ghodbunder Road. My daughter had her CUCET exam today and she barely made it to the centre on time. This was when she got her centre 14 kilometer from my home. What had happened to the traffic in Thane? Why this jam everyday?

@PapaDelta2250 min of travel from Thane to Vikroli taking more than 2 hrs! Is there any Guinness/Limca Book of Records for this? If u want to see a smart city choked by traffic, here is Thane for u.