Ghodbunder service roads in Thane to be repaired by March: TMC

Thane Ghodbunder service road, which was a nightmare for commuters since monsoon, will be repaired at a cost of ₹25 crore.

Thane Ghodbunder service road, which was a nightmare for commuters since monsoon, will be repaired at a cost of ₹25 crore.

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Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) said it will asphalt the service road before March.

In 2015, TMC started the road-widening projects. The work on Ghodbunder service road was undertaken in two phases —Kapurbawdi to Patlipada was completed in 2014 while the second phase was undertaken in December 2015 and completed last year.

The condition of the road deteriorated during monsoon due to sewage and water remodeling work. The service road was dug up on either side for laying of new sewage and water pipelines, worsening the road’s condition.

Ravindra Khadtale, city engineer of TMC, said, “The work of remodeling of water and sewage network for Ghodbunder Road is almost complete. We will finish the work in the next couple of months. We will also begin asphalting Ghodbunder service road. The entire stretch of the service road till Bhayander Pada will be redeveloped by March. Asphalting will ensure that commuters have a smooth commute.”

The width of the Ghodbunder road is 60 metres, out of which, 42 metres is the highway. The two service roads have a width of 9m on either side. The cost of the two service roads is Rs93.88 crore and it was funded by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

“TMC will spend Rs25 crore on asphalting the service road,” said Khadtale.

Trupti Sharma, 38, a commuter, said, “TMC has been promising to repair the road for the past two years. Every monsoon it is a nightmare. This year, the roads developed huge craters. Taxpayers’ money has gone down the drain.”

Internal roads to get a facelift

Residents have been demanding that TMC repair the internal roads in Ghodbunder areas. The arterial roads are used as alternative routes since the ongoing Metro work has led to congestion on the highway. The internal roads in areas such as Brahmand, Waghbil, Patlipada, Kavesar, Anandnagar and Kasarvadavli are in a bad shape.

Shankar Das, 55, a resident of Ghodbunder, said, “Most internal roads, especially in Brahmand, have been dug up for repair work. There is lot of congestion on these roads. The work should be undertaken on a war footing so that people who use these roads do not face more problems.”

A TMC official said the work of repairing around 5kms of internal road has begun.

The official said, “We have taken concretisation work on three major roads — Kapurbawdi to Balkum, Kolshet road from Dokali junction to Clariant company till Brahmand road which connects the Ghodbunder highway. All three roads are around 5km long. After the work is complete, people can enter Kapurbawdi and exit at Brahmand signal avoiding the highway traffic.”

TMC will spend ₹45 crore on concretisation of the three roads.

“The work will be completed by June,” he said.

Road repair works have also begun at the ward-level.

“We have studied the roads which have developed potholes this monsoon and have decided to repair them using Ultra Thin White Topping (UTWT) method. Commuters will not face travelling on roads next year,” he added.