Maharashtra Minister Ravindra Chavan takes babus on a walk of shame

PWD Minister Ravindra Chavan (right, in blue shirt) oversees road repair work on Mumbai-Goa Highway on Friday

State Public Works Department Minister Ravindra Chavan on Friday morning hit the Mumbai-Goa Highway in his car to check the condition of the road, following a three-part series by mid-day highlighting the pathetic condition of three highways connecting Mumbai with its neighbouring cities, as well as complaints by citizens.

It took around two hours for the entourage to cover 84 km of the Mumbai-Goa Highway. Maharashtra Public Works Department Minister Ravindra Chavan said, "We started from Panvel in the morning and reached Raigad district. We have filled and patched up every single pothole till this point."

Workers fill a pothole on Mumbai-Goa Highway on Friday; experts have called for fines for those violating traffic rules on highways to be implemented at toll plazas. Pic/Sameer Markande; A patch of Mumbai-Goa Highway that was repaired on Friday morning

He added, "Earlier there were only two contractors which has now been increased to 10. The contractors have been directed to employ their full force to keep the roads in good shape."

"We have taken up stretches on priority and are fixing it for this year. The various technologies and processes include polymer cold mix and rapid hardening cement," the minister said.

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Chavan added, "One will, however, see major improvement of the highway by next year's Ganapati festival. Our target is to complete repairing the entire Mumbai-Goa Highway by December 2023."

84km
Distance covered by PWD Minister Ravindra Chavan

‘We are taking measures to ensure a smoother journey'

The mid-day team also got in touch with departments and authorities concerned and asked them what measures are being taken to ensure better roads and less accidents.

Additional Director General Police (Traffic) Kulwant K Sarangal said, "We are filing cases against those found flouting traffic norms and are collecting around Rs 50 lakh to Rs 55 lakh as fine each day. We also undertake special drives to nab those who cut lanes and drive rashly." He further assured of more surveillance on the highways.

Speaking about the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway, senior NHAI officials on the condition of anonymity said, "Companies which have been awarded repair and maintenance work have not been working properly and we also penalised some of them."

They, however, added, "As the temporary work has been washed away due to excess rain, we have given them a deadline of September 3 to fix the patches. We have also deployed officers to oversee the work."

When mid-day raised a query about the removal of high-definition night vision CCTV cameras on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway due to alleged non-payment, Director General (War Room Infrastructure Projects) Radheshyam Mopalwar said, "MSRDS never installed any cameras permanently. The vendor used to approach and install them on an experimental basis. But now, after many efforts, we have got permission to install 370 cameras and an order has been passed on August 3. It will take nine months to install these."

Rs 50-55lakh
Average fine collected from traffic violators on state highways daily

Need CCTV cameras on highways, say experts

mid-day also reached out to transport experts and activists to get their views and suggestions on the condition of the highways and how to improve the same.

Independent activist Tanmay Pendse said, "We prepared an integrated traffic monitoring system in 2016 and submitted it to then chief

minister Devendra Fadnavis who had assured us that it would be enforced. Our suggestions included installing cameras for general surveillance, special cameras for foggy areas, violation detection with adequate optic fibre backbone - which will help understand the reasons behind accidents. It's been 6 years since and only 30 per cent of the suggested measures have been taken. I hope the new CM will make sure that all the measures are considered and carried out on priority."

Transport expert Jitendra Gupta said, "Is the Maharashtra-Gujarat Highway equipped with modern technology of CCTV and high speed cameras? These technologies are used world over to control traffic indiscipline. If our highways are missing this, then the question is: why?"

Talking about Mumbai-Pune Expressway, toll activist Sanjay Shirodkar said, "The contractor should be held responsible for not deploying systems like surveillance, cranes, ambulance and 24-hour patrolling on the Expressway. Clearing traffic is the duty of highway police but there is little to no compliance. They are only seen at toll plazas. The maintenance is not up to the mark, there are not enough lights and the helpline has bad response. There is also no synchronisation among the state government, MSRDC, contractor, Highway Police and RTO."

"The first point is that the authorities need to be visible in full force on the highways with cameras visible to drivers, especially of heavy vehicles. At toll plazas, vehicles in wrong lanes need to be charged a fine and the vehicles should be detained for at least six hours. It needs coordinated action on war footing for weeks, till all such drivers get the message," said architect and transportation analyst Jagdeep Desai.

Activist Mushtaq Ansari of the Potholes Warrior Foundation said, "All toll should be made free for the entirety of monsoon till the roads are resurfaced properly. There should be proper reflectors at every divider and clear lane markings to avoid accidents. And toll operators who don't maintain highways should be scrapped."

Work, waiver and curbs on Highways

E-way down for two hours
A two-hour traffic block was enforced on a segment of Mumbai-Pune Expressway on Friday from 2 pm. Traffic from Kiwale to Talegaon was diverted to the old Mumbai-Pune Highway via Somatane, slowing down the overall movement along the stretch.

Restriction on heavy vehicles
The state government has banned the movement of heavy vehicles on the Mumbai-Goa Highway from midnight August 27 to 8 pm on September 10. Heavy vehicles with the load carrying capacity of 16 metric tonnes (MT) or more are banned on the highway. The ban is effective from Panvel (Raigad) to the Goa border of Sindhudurg. However, vehicles carrying essentials are exempted from the ban.

Toll waiver for Ganpati devotees heading to Konkan
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has decided to waive road tax (toll) for Ganpati devotees going to Konkan for the festival from today (Saturday) till September 11. This exemption will be available on Mumbai-Bangalore National Highway, Mumbai-Goa National Highway and other Public Works Department roads. To avail this waiver, pass in the form of stickers with ‘Ganeshotsav 2022, Konkan Darshan' written on it will have to be pasted on vehicles with driver's name. The Transport Department, Traffic Police, Regional Transport Offices will coordinate and make the stickers available at police stations, traffic police checkpoints and RTO offices.