E-Paper
No end to Thane’s pothole woes?
Asha Pradeep, 38, a Thane resident, has stopped using her two-wheeler as her family fears for her safety.
Asha Pradeep, 38, a Thane resident, has stopped using her two-wheeler as her family fears for her safety.
The road outside her complex is filer with huge craters, making it unsafe for commuting. Pradeep prefers walking, claimed that her children also have no place to wait for the school bus as there is no road left.
Like Pradeep, a resident of Kanchanpushpa Society near Waghbil, complaints of potholes are pouring in from across the city.
The city is dotted with potholes. Thane received 2244.85mm of rainfall till Friday. The intensity of the rainfall increased since July 27. The heavy downpour has exposed the shoddy pre-monsoon road repair works as most major roads across the city have developed potholes.
Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has spent more than ₹2 crore on road repairs, which seems to have washed down in the rain.
The residents staged a small protest on Friday.
Sandesh Kade, 36, a resident, said, “The service road was dug up for over six months for the sewage work and when we thought it will be repaired, the road again developed potholes.”
The Ghodbunder areas are worst-hit, especially the service road. The corporation had undertaken sewage works along the service road. The roads were merely levelled and made motorable before the monsoon.
The entire service road from Kasarvadavli to Manpada has developed potholes.
Pallavi Tambat, 25, a resident of Patlipada, said, “Even the internal roads are in a bad state, especially Brahmand and Kasarvadavli roads. The potholes have led to huge traffic congestion during peak hours.”
The corporation claimed that the work of filling potholes is going on.
A TMC official said, “The civic commissioner has given orders to fill the potholes. We are trying to fill them using different mixes, however, most potholes can be filled only when we get a dry spell. The concrete or other mixes will again wash away in the heavy downpour.”
Flyovers, highways filled with craters
The potholes are not only on the internal city roads but also on the flyovers such as Majiwada flyover, Ghodbunder Road highway and Eastern Express Highway.
A spokesperson from Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which is responsible for the highways, said, “As and when we get complaints, we forward it to the engineer, who is supposed to repair potholes.”
Pothole top complaint on Twitter handle
Around 40 per cent of the total complaint received on the newly revived Twitter handle of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), is of potholes.
They are unresolved complaints, as the corporation claimed they can fill the potholes only during a dry spell.
Since the relaunch of its Twitter handle, @TMCATweetAway, recently, TMC is flooded with complaints on tree falls, hawkers, encroachments and waterlogging.
An official said, “We have received 165 complaints from July 25 to July 31 on the Twitter handle, out of which, 82 complaints have been resolved. There are more than 300 tweets on the handle to date. Out of the 165 complaints received, around 70 complaints are on potholes.”
