Potholes and rain paralyse traffic for hours on Western Express Highway in Mumbai

The situation worsened in the afternoon hours as both southbound stretch and the northbound stretch faced heavy traffic congestion.

Vehicles moved slowly on the Western Express Highway on Wednesday afternoon as motorists tried to move through the several potholes along the route.

Potholes at Western Express Highway in Vile Parle that caused traffic jams on Wednesday. (Pramod Thakur/HT PHOTO)

Drivers on the southbound stretch said that potholes on the road had increased their travel time. It had rained heavily in the suburbs on Tuesday.

The traffic started slowing down between Borivli and Andheri around noon and slowly, a trail of vehicles gathered as the day progressed. Around 2pm, heavy traffic was reported between Goregaon and the international airport.

The situation worsened in the afternoon as both the southbound and the northbound stretch were congested. An official from the police headquarters said, “We are receiving several calls reporting traffic jams on the WEH. We have alerted the local traffic divisions along the route to regulate vehicular movement.”

The CCTV control room of the traffic police is also working with the local divisions to ease the congestion, officials said.

The policemen, with the divisions, were regulating the traffic after calls on the Mumbai traffic police helpline started pouring in.

Meanwhile, SV Road also gave motorists trouble with the slow moving traffic.