Faulty work on NH48 leads to delay and chaos; citizens angry
Motorists take over an hour to travel a 20-minute stretch, thanks to haphazard concretization
MUMBAI : The much-anticipated project to concretize the 29-km stretch of Mumbai Ahmedabad highway, from Dahisar toll plaza to Talasari in Palghar district, has managed to achieve the opposite of its original intent.
The National Highway Authority of India’s (NHAI) endeavour was to improve the road’s condition and thereby the lives of citizens commuting through this stretch. In reality, it has started white topping the stretch of NH 48 at the cost of ₹600 crore, sanctioned by the Central Government, in a haphazard manner l eading t o chaos, anger and huge traffic jams on the road frequented by motorists from the satellite towns of Mira Road, Bhayander, Vasai and Virar, said highway police. It now takes hours for citizens of Palghar, Vasai and Virar to reach Mumbai and Thane. The jams create much anxiety for those dealing with medical emergencies.
White topping is a technique of concretizing the upper layer of an existing road after scraping and l e v e l l i n g . NHAI embarked on the project after much criticism on the potholed stretch that is part of the Golden Quadrilateral of India. Locals, including Member of Parliament Rajendra Gavit and the police, have in the past pointed to mismanagement, poor quality of barricades and heavy dust pollution that have led to disorder and hours of jams on the highway. “We have conducted several meetings with NHAI officials to try to resolve this issue but the problem still persists,” said Gavit.
Team HT travelled the stretch last month to see how the contractor was doing his job without a plan which was causing jams. Consider this: Random patches on the four lanes of each carriageway are selected for concretisation. This patchy work which leaves pot-holed stretches unattended in intervals, compels motorists to constantly negotiate to be able to drive on concretised stretches which results in slowing down of traffic. At a few places, heavy vehicles passing from both directions were seen squeezing into a single lane.
At many places, vehicles were forced to take service lanes which either had potholes or lacked structured roads. The weak bamboo barricades had collapsed on the already narrow road, causing further jams.
In the night, dust particles from construction material hanging in the air leads to lack of visibility and air pollution. Traffic police officials deployed here have to wear at least three layers of masks to protect themselves. On the other hand, for highway cops, it is a challenge to manage traffic. On March 30, the highway police wrote to NHAI officials, asking them to post more signages for diversion and cover the potholes on the service roads.
“The NHAI covers potholes but does not maintain the road properly, which leads to the potholes reappearing in no time. The agency has also failed to construct slopes at the end of patch works,” said Vithhal Chintaman, in-charge of highway police chowky at Chinchoti. The police have asked for more wardens to manage traffic. “At present we have 25 personnel and 80 wardens, but more men are needed to ensure commuters do not face more problems,” said Chintaman.
On March 25, MP Rajendra Gavit had a meeting with highway traffic police, NHAI officials and the contractor entrusted with white-topping work. Eight major decisions were taken. They are: directions for the contractor (deputed for white topping between Ghodbunder in Kashimira and Khanivde in Vasai) to install strong barricades at site, filling potholes on the service roads, removal of encroachments on
NHAI land, action against illegally parked vehicles, deploying 120 wardens to assist the traffic police, instead of working on multiple locations at a time the contractor should work stretch by stretch, provide space to relocate debris which hamper movement of vehicles, construct over bridges or underpass at black spots on the highway, immediate closure of unauthorized cuts and turns created by breaking down the road medians which often result in fatal accidents and enhance safety and traffic management along this stretch.
At least one person has died every five days in road accidents between Dahisar (the entry point to Mumbai) and Acchad (on Maharashtra-gujarat border) section of NH 48 between January and August 2023.
Promising to resolve the problem on this stretch, NHAI manager Sumeet Kumar said, “We are trying to complete the work as soon as possible. It is being done in patches to increase the width of the drain near Niagaon.”