Thane pothole menace: Death of 37-yr-old biker puts plight of roads in spotlight

It has not happened in the Thane city area but in MiraBhayandar Corporationrsquos jurisdiction and the MMRDA is responsible for the damaged roadrdquo said the Thane civic body after a 37yearold biker died thanks to a pothole at Ghodbunder Road While the bureaucrats shifted blame the new chief minister the former guardian minister of Thane should now focus on fixing the deadly spots at these five locationsmdashManpada Kasarvadavali Hiranandani Estate Majiwada junction and the Eastern Express Highway borderDespite spending crores of rupees the roads in Thane and its surroundings are not navigable for motorists and the twowheeler riders are affected the most Also read Mumbai Commuters furious about potholes on New Link RoadA cratersized pothole along the PowaiGoregaon Aarey RoadIt would not be wrong to call Thane a city of potholes The 37yearold biker slipped due a pothole fell down and was crushed by an MSRTC bus on TuesdayParag Nirmale a delivery executive ManpadaldquoIt has not happened in the Thane city area but in the area outside the city limits which does not fall under the limits of the Thane Municipal Corporationrdquo as perf a video message from Thanersquos civic headquarters to all media houses The accident spot technically lies in the jurisdiction of MiraBhayandar Corporation and the MMRDA is also responsible for the large damaged Ghodbunder road stretch it added Ironically Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was Thanersquos guardian minister and also the chairman of the MMRDA until taking charge of the office recently In September last year Shinde had suspended two engineers after witnessing potholed roads and shoddy work However the condition of the roads shows there has been no effectPotholes on the PowaiAarey road PicsSameer MarkandeCommuters have been complaining about the bad stretches on the Ghodbunder Road and the monsoon has worsened their condition in the past two daysmidday visited the areas with affected road stretches on Wednesday and found potholes all over and spoke to commuters who conveyed their frustrationCommuters now expect concrete results considering Shinde from Thane is now the CMEE highway bordermidday visited the roads between Mulund and the Eastern Express Highway on the Thane border There were huge potholes on the road next to Anand Nagar towards Mulund Akash Londhe Thane resident Akshay Londhe who commutes daily for work told midday ldquoThe potholes are not new for Thanekars The government takes road taxes and also penalises us if we donrsquot follow the traffic rules Then why are they not giving good roads that we rightly deserve Hope the new CM who is also from Thane will address such an important issue on priorityrdquoMajiwada junctionThe roads are no good at the Majiwada junction as well which falls under the constituency of Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik Pankaj Giri Pankaj Giri an auto driver who is a local resident said ldquoI donrsquot know what type of materials the authorities use to make roads Recently they had done some repair works but you can see for yourself the pathetic condition of the roads I have seen many twowheeler riders fall down as they lose balance because of the potholes We now expect good roads from the new chief ministerrdquoPankaj Sisodia a commuter who works as a sales executive said ldquoNot only in Majiwada but roads on ThaneGhodbunder stretch is bad too especially the Teen Hath Naka flyover Ridersrsquo lives are in constant threat even a helmet is of no help In daylight we ride cautiously but itrsquos a gamble especially in the monsoon when the roads are floodedrdquoHiranandani EstateOne of the posh townships in Thane Hiranandani Estate is also not sparedAditi SareenA resident Aditi Sareen said ldquoThe roads are pathetic throughout the city Riding on these roads is dangerous Now that we have a CM fromThane we common citizens demand him to at least provide us with the basic amenity a navigable roadrdquo A resident of Manpada Parag Nirmale works for Dunzo and rides frequently for deliveries in the area ldquoThe condition of the road is pathetic and is a risk to peoplersquos lives It is so frustrating that after paying taxes we are getting such poor quality of roads The new CM Eknath Shinde must do something for the Thane roads nowrdquo he saidKasarvadavaliIn Kasarvadavali towards the Ghodbunder Road stretch midday spotted huge potholes along with unevenly built road due to the Metro work There is no footpath for pedestriansYuvraj MoreA commuter Yuvraj More said ldquoI am a delivery executive and have to commute daily on this road You can see that due to the Metro work the condition of the road is poor and it becomes difficult for us to ride in the monsoon The authorities responsible for this infrastructure must look into the inconveniences they are causing to the commuters Hope the new CM will see the problems of the common manrdquoManpadaThere are huge potholes on the ThaneGhodbunder Road towards the Thane stretch in ManpadaOfficial SpeakldquoThaneGhodbunder Road doesnrsquot come under our jurisdiction It is maintained by the MMRDA We often write letters to MMRDA officials about the pathetic conditions of the road Now it is up to themrdquo said a senior official of the Thane Municipal Corporation TMC requesting anonymityldquoOn July 5 there was an accident at Ghodbunder Road wherein a twowheeler rider lost his balance due to a pothole fell down and wasrun over by an ST bus that was coming from behind The incident didnrsquot happen in the TMCrsquos jurisdiction It took place near Gaimukh Jakat Naka which comes under the jurisdiction of the MiraBhayandar civic bodyrdquo Sandeep Malvi the additional commissioner of the TMCtold middaymidday gets potholes filledOvernight rain had created cratersized potholes on the Western Express Highway near the airport flyover towards Andheri This could have proved as fatal as the pothole on Ghodbunder Road that had killed a 37yearold biker However when midday reached out to the MMRDA Commissioner SVR Srinivas he took cognizance of the matter and immediately sent out a team to fill the potholes PicShadab khan