'Repaired' potholes turn to craters in two weeks

The vicious circle of potholes, repairs and re-occurrences never seems to end. Less than two weeks after the potholes on Aarey Milk Colony road were repaired, they have again started sprouting at various places, much to the annoyance and inconvenience of motorists.

Patchwork: Workers filling potholes on the Aarey Milk Colony road after MiD DAY's report less than two weeks ago. Pic/Nimesh Dave.

This highlights the negligent attitude of the authorities and reaffirms the general perception that the so-called repair work was nothing but an eyewash.

Worth the money?
On June 24, MiD DAY had carried a report (Toll charged to use Aarey Colony road in Mumbai raises stink) that highlighted the fact that commuters have to pay toll to use the ill-maintained Aarey Milk Colony Road - the only one in the city to tax two-wheelers.

The toll was being taken even when the condition of the road was pathetic at many places. The CEO of the enterprise had said that this was just an access charge. However, the stretch of the road going towards Marol was in a pathetic condition when MiD DAY visited it. Following the MiD DAY report, the Aarey Milk Colony authorities started the repair work and the potholes were filled using tar and stone crush mixture.

However, less than two weeks after the potholes were repaired, it was observed that the potholes have begun re-occurring as the material that was used to fill the potholes has washed away with the rain. MiD DAY visited the stretch going towards Marol toll plaza again yesterday. It was found that the repaired roads were in very bad state. At many places, the tar and stone crush that was used to fill potholes had either washed away by the rain or had come up, thus, increasing the chances of bikers skidding.

The other side
Aarey CEO Ashok Jadhav, said, "We had repaired the potholes. If at all they have occurred again, then I will soon instruct the officials concerned to repair them at the earliest so that motorists don't have to face inconvenience."

Voices

It is an arterial road connecting Powai and Marol with Western Express Highway at Goregaon. The potholes have once again re-surfaced on the road at Marol that was repaired less than two weeks ago. I don't know what kind of repair work the authorities did. Till the time the road is not repaired, the authorities should not collect the toll.u00a0 - Rahul Kudale, Marol resident