Potholes bring Mumbai to a halt

The city has been hit by traffic snarls all over, thanks to incessant rain during the past several days, coupled with recurring potholes in many areas. So much so, officials have raised concerns that even if they fill up these potholes, the same get washed away almost immediately due to continuous rain, leaving behind more or less the same pattern of traffic jams in these areas.

Joint commissioner Milind Bharambe said, “Usually, we ask civic authorities to fill up the pothole and the issue is more or less resolved but now, they come in the night and get only a few hours to fill up the pothole. Even if it’s raining, they do it but it needs to stop after a certain point for the filling to set in; this does not happen owing to constant rain the city has been seeing for the past many days.”

Mr Bharambe said that they have been trying to do the best with whatever resources they have got. “We are trying in our own ways to do whatever we can to make negotiating roads easier for Mumbaikars,” he said.

Nasim Malik a taxi driver for almost 11 years did not agree with Mr Bharambe. “The roads are basically of bad quality. To top it all, the traffic cops just stand there even when they can see some person is trying to break lane or trying to get ahead of others hey just stand and watch,” said Mr Malik.

Areas such as Raja junction near Dadar (west) have been known to be problematic for years now however, newer areas like the bridge towards Centaur Hotel near the airport are also now adding to the city’s traffic woes. Matters have been made worse by the fact that there is not enough manpower that can be deployed in all these areas. “You might be aware of places such as Milan subway, Hindmata, Kurla etc. that have always seen traffic snarls. But now, new areas like the Centaur Hotel bridge and the entire section between Lion’s Gate at Colaba and Cotton Green are becoming a huge problem for us,” said an official on condition of anonymity.

Arterial roads such as Western Express Highway, Eastern Express Highway and Santa Cruz-Chembur-Link-Road (SCLR) have also become a cause for concern.