Mumbai: Brace for more pothole-ridden roads, wobbly Ganpati revelry

Devotees manoeuvre around potholes on Vakola flyover. Pic/Atul Kamble

The moderate to heavy showers that have hit the city and neighbouring Thane and Navi Mumbai over the last few days have brought some bad news for citizens as well as sarvajanik Ganpati mandals - the more the rain, the more the potholes, and the bumpier the ride, whether it is for commuting Mumbaikars or devotees bringing their idols from workshops.

The connecting road between Jogeshwari and SV Road riddled with deep pits. Pic/Datta Kumbhar

A test drive by mid-day yesterday on the Western Express Highway revealed reappearance of potholes in several areas, one of them being on the stretch between Andheri and Vakola flyover, with the south-bound and north-bound lanes pockmarked with pits of all shapes and sizes, causing much inconvenience to motorists.

Also read: Ganpati Bappa to have bumpy ride on Mumbai's roads this year

The MMRDA has already awarded the contract for repairing potholes on the Eastern and Western Express Highways to five contractors, who have been asked to fix the pits at the earliest.

The hole story
MMRDA senior engineer A Nagargoje said, "We have already awarded contracts to various contractors to repair the potholes on Eastern and Western Urban Roads (earlier, EEH and WEH). We have mobile pothole repairing teams that have been posted on both these roads to see to it that the potholes are repaired at the earliest."

However, a source from MMRDA said, "If the rain continues through the week, repairing the potholes will become difficult. To fix deep potholes temporarily, we are using paver blocks, and for medium-sized ones, bitumen mixture."

Also read: Ganpati mandals blame potholes for immersion delays

The incessant rainfall has also led to an increase in the number of potholes on a road near Veera Desai road in Andheri West. On a 100-metre stretch going from Veera Desai road towards SV road in Jogeshwari West, more than 20 medium and large potholes were spotted.

Reeling from rains
There have been other mishaps too, according to the BMC disaster control room, namely cases of trees falling, houses collapsing and short circuits.

According to the BMC report, from Saturday 8 pm to Sunday 3 pm, seven incidents of tree falls and 11 of short circuit were reported in the city and suburbs. Besides that, at 8 am on Sunday, the civic body received a call for a structure collapsing in Byculla, and by 2 pm, for heavy water-logging near Andheri station and National college in Bandra West.

Also read: Ganesh mandals want BMC to repair potholes for Bappa

In a press release, the BMC claimed it had conducted inquiries into the incidents of tree falls and found no casualties.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department has indicated that the city is likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall over the next 48 hours.

11
Number of incidents of short circuit

7
Number of incidents of tree fall

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