Thirty-eight-year-old Devraj Bakshi, who had planned a work-related trip to Mumbai from Kalyan on Monday evening, had to cancel the plan after watching the traffic stretch along the Mumbai-Nashik Highway near the Dive-Anjur stretch at 5.30 pm.
With most people away for the long weekend returning on Monday evening, heavy traffic congestion was witnessed on the highway.
Bakshi, 38, took to social media asking the Thane Traffic Police to look into the traffic congestion so that he could leave his house for work. A 90-minute drive from Kalyan to Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) is at least 150 minutes now-a-days for most commuters.
“I realised there would be traffic and so I checked the map. Since there was no way out once you get stuck in the traffic, I decided to postpone my travel and intimated the authorities so that they looked into it and the traffic is eased. I have been travelling through this stretch for the last 10 years and every year it gets worse,” said Bakshi.
The Mumbai-Nashik Highway has been affected by heavy traffic jams since the monsoon set in. With roads having huge potholes, the vehicles move slowly and there is at least two to three hour-long jams on this stretch.
“At times, the jam is only on one side of the stretch while at other times, both the sides of the Mumbai-Nashik Highway are affected. And, if you chose to go by the other way from Shilphata, again the traffic there is bad too,” added Bakshi.
The Thane traffic police claimed that there would be more traffic cops and wardens deployed in Thane city on Tuesday as many vehicles might return to city at the end of the long weekend.
“The potholes on the Mumbai-Nashik Highway are being filled from time to time by the contractors. We decided to look into the traffic jam at major points in Thane city as many would be returning to the city. On Tuesday also, we will have more cops and wardens deployed to control the traffic situation,” said Datta Kamble, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Thane.
Heavy traffic bottlenecks were reported between Mankoli naka to Majiwada on Monday evening at around 7.30 pm.
“It is a vital link to connect to MMR. Why are the authorities not willing to come up with a permanent solution for this stretch? There is no place to move on this road during jams and if there is an emergency, there is no way out. At least there should be some helpline where we can contact for help in case of emergency,” said Sudhish Pillai, 30, a commuter.
