07 October,2016 05:33 PM IST | | Ranjeet Jadhav and Sameer Markande
Kalina resident Atul Pawar, who was with his friend Atul Tambe, riding on the WEH on Wednesday night escaped death by a whisker after his bike hit a huge pothole in Andheri. Pawar’s control over the two-wheeler is what saved them
Vakola resident Atul Tambe shows the pothole on Andheri flyover that nearly killed him and his friend on Wednesday. Pic/Sameer Markande
Kalina resident Atul Pawar, who was with his friend Atul Tambe, riding on the WEH on Wednesday night escaped death by a whisker after his bike hit a huge pothole in Andheri. Pawar's control over the two-wheeler is what saved them.
Yesterday, they visited the spot and have decided to fill as many potholes as they can on the flyover if the authorities don't step up.
Tambe said, "We were on our way to Malad and were on the northbound lane of the Andheri flyover, when suddenly our bike lost balance after encountering a huge pothole. We would have died had my friend not controlled the bike. It's high time authorities filled all the potholes. Someone might die."
A rainy reason
At present, the WEH stretch between Dahisar and Bandra is thoroughly pockmarked with several uneven sections. The Public Works Department (PWD) has time and again assured of filling up potholes, but the issue is yet to be solved completely. A senior PWD official said, "We have a 24x7 road-repair team. The continuous rainfall is the problem currently, as that has stopped us from fixing the pits. Once the rains stop and we get a week, we will repair all the stretches."
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The MMRDA too has written to the PWD and the civic body to ensure the roads are smooth in order to avoid traffic jams expected to happen due to the construction of Dahisar-Andheri east and Dahisar-DN Nagar Metro.
Metropolitan Commissioner UPS Madan said, "We have already informed the PWD about the uneven roads and potholes on WEH, and the BMC about the bad condition of SV Road and New Link Road. Both agencies have assured that once the rains stopped, the repairs would be carried out."
Metro mayhem
The WEH and New Link Road are two of the major stretches in western suburbs between Bandra and Dahisar; close to 1 lakh vehicles using them for their daily commute. The Dahisar-Andheri east Metro would come up on WEH and the Dahisar-DN Nagar corridor would be on the New Link Road.
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Authorities have already started the construction and the pace is expected to quicken post monsoon. Once that happens, traffic from the two major roads will be diverted to SV Road, another important stretch between Bandra and Dahisar that is already very congested. Hence, it's crucial to improve the condition of the roads to minimise inconvenience due to traffic snarls.
