Mumbai: Aarey road linking east-west suburbs has over 74 potholes per km

Potholes in the city are quite simply a fact of life for Mumbaikars There are very few roads wellmade enough to escape the fury of the monsoon Take the key arterial road at Aarey Milk Colony for instanceNear aarey lakeA pothole census by midday has revealed that the vital connector that links the eastern and western suburbs has on average about 74 potholes per km On a test drive on the 47km stretch from Shahid Tukaram Ombale Garden to Picnic Point midday counted 349 potholesAlso read Mumbai Unvaccinated cows spread panic in AareyPotholes on the key arterial road in Aarey Milk Colony in Goregaon PicsAtul KambleOnce you enter Aarey from the Western Express Highway after a smooth ride for a few metres the bumpy ride begins Near the Maharashtra Krushi Udyog BEST bus stop midday noted around 12 potholesOshiwara river bridgeAnother huge crater on the roadThere are potholes on both sides of the bridge with nearly 36 on a stretch of 150 to 200 metres The road is almost invisible hereAarey lake stretchpatchThere are 16 big potholes on a 200metre stretch Other parts donrsquot have potholes but the road is uneven causing hurdles for motoristsPanchavati Fast food JunctionOne of around 19 potholes in the Panchavati Fast food Junction areaThis is the most crucial junction as at this point the road splits into the Aarey colony internal road At present repairs are on But there are around 19 potholes at this junctionWorst of Aarey roadsPeople say itrsquos a waste of time taking these roads There is about a 15 km patch of diversion road from Unit 5 To Unit 6 and from here starts the worst part of the Aarey journey There are around 86 potholes hereldquoWe use this diversion as road work is on But travelling on this route is a daily test for students and residents of Aarey colony We have requested BMCrsquos local ward officer to look into it many times but the situation simply doesnrsquot improve Students have to go via Goregaon to school every day wasting two hours on the journey If the road quality improves the journey will reduce by more than halfrdquo said local resident Sandip GandhaveRavindra Yadav who also uses the road said ldquoItrsquos really difficult to drive on this road Every year the authority assures that road quality will improve but the situation just does not changerdquo ldquoIn some places I feel the road is nonexistent If the road is good the entire journey can be completed in 15 to 20 minutes It currently takes an hourrdquo said Istiyak Khan another road userldquoThe road from Goregaon to Powai is under repair and itrsquos the contractorrsquos duty to repair potholes The contractor had repaired the potholes before But the contractor is not responsible for repairing the potholes on a diversion from the internal road which is under the Aarey CEO There is also the issue of rainwater that causes potholes Therefore it has been decided to concretise these roads We are going to concretise around 7 kms of roads Around 300 to 400 metres of concretising has been completedrdquo said a BMC official47Stretch in kms from Shahid Tukaram Ombale Garden to Picnic Point where midday counted 349 potholes