The entire stretch of around 18km Ghodbunder Road from Kapurbawdi in Thane to Ghodbunder village in Kashimira, merely has 37 potholes, claimed the State Public Works Department (PWD), which maintains the said road.
Residents and commuters, however, claim the pothole count to be much higher than this. Most major junctions on this entire stretch are full of potholes. Daily commuters are irked with the number of potholes and the ensuing traffic snarls. Moreover, the potholes also pose a threat of accidents.
“On Ghodbunder Road, until Thursday evening, there were 37 potholes. Among these, 24 have been filled with cold mix. On Friday, there were another 21 potholes on this route that would be filled with cold mix before the end of the day,” said Sunil Patil, executive engineer, State PWD.
Earlier this week, a 37-year-old biker was crushed to death by a bus after his motorbike hit a pothole in Ghodbunder Road’s Kajupada area. This incident has brought to forefront the plight of regular commuters who have to bear the pothole-riddled roads and the traffic snarls as well.
“Traffic was moving at a snail’s pace till Kharegaon on Friday. It took me two hours to travel from Kolshet till Majiwada on Friday evening. There are many potholes on this small stretch itself. The entire road will surely have much more than the 37 potholes as claimed by the authorities,” said Ashish Joshi, 46, resident of Rustomjee Urbania in Thane.
Regular commuters had a difficult time travelling due to these potholes, “It took me 45 minutes to just reach Korum Mall from Teen Haath Naka and another half-an-hour to reach Majiwada junction. This was largely after the potholes and huge craters appeared on the roads. A similar situation had developed last year after a heavy downpour. Yet, no efforts to improve the situation were taken by the authorities,” said Swapnil Suman, 33, a resident of Majiwada.
Areas like Anand Nagar Signal, Vijay Garden Road and Gaimukh Ghat see a lot of bottlenecks largely due to the potholes. Apart from this, Majiwada junction, the road outside DMart and R-Mall continue to be in a poor condition.
“Some of the potholes on this route have been filled but continue to have patches, making the stretch uneven and difficult to drive. This is causing slow vehicular movement,” said a traffic warden on duty at Ghodbunder Road.
Large craters outside the CM’s Thane residence
Even as CM Eknath Shinde gave directives to officials to ensure potholes were filled, huge craters have formed outside his residence in Thane. At a special meeting conducted with various Thane district authorities to ensure that roads are maintained well, Shinde asked the authorities to fill potholes at the earliest.
However, outside the gates of Shinde’s residence in Louiswadi, potholes have developed. “Work to repair the stretch of road had started in the last week of June itself but we had to complete it just before his oath-taking ceremony as crowds started increasing outside his residence. The potholes will be fixed at the earliest,” said an officer from Thane Municipal Corporation.