Mumbai pothole menace: Need 20 mins to cover 300 metres on Mulund-Airoli Road, say commuters

Potholes on the Airoli-end of the Mulund-Airoli bridge. Pic/Sameer Markande

Motorists travelling on the Mulund-Airoli Road have taken to social media to express their anger over the huge potholes that lead to severe traffic congestion during peak hours, but nothing seems to have changed. Commuters said sometimes it takes more than 20 minutes to cover a 300-metre distance, thanks to the crater-sized potholes at the end of the Airoli bridge on the east side.

On Thursday, motorist Abhishek Surve tweeted, "#airolitoll @MMRDAOfficial @navimumbaicv @TOINaviMumbai @RoadsOfMumbai @PotholeWarriors @mieknathshinde @Dev_Fadnavis @KiritSomaiya are we paying Airoli toll for this? This is the road quality just after the toll naka. don't need rest of road photos, potholes can appear anywhere. (sic)"

Also read: The big holes in BMC's pothole-filling claim

Another motorist, Ishwar Chandra, had posted, "Dear NMMC team, Proud of Navi Mumbai as most cleaned city. But nowadays, we are facing heavy traffic issues due to large potholes on Airoli side of Airoli Mulund bridge. Kindly help to resolve. @NMMCCommr. (sic)"

It may be noted that the work on phase II of the Airoli-Katai Naka elevated road, which is being implemented by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), is in progress and locals claim that the MMRDA has put up barricades on the east-bound stretch of the bridge which also leads to traffic.

Sources from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) told mid-day that the toll operator is tasked with maintaining the bridge.