Pothole danger ahead

Flyovers are usually meant to ease traffic congestion along arterial roads,but the citys potholed flyovers are making driving a risky proposition for motorists.

Flyovers are usually meant to ease traffic congestion along arterial roads,but the citys potholed flyovers are making driving a risky proposition for motorists. Be it the Kemps Corner flyover along Peddar Road in South Mumbai,the Byculla flyover near the fire brigade office,Kings Circle flyover,Parel TT flyover or the Dadar TT flyover in Central Mumbai,Mumbaiites have to dodge potholes on every stretch.

I have to go to almost all parts of the city but the condition of the Dadar TT flyover is the worst ,says Veer Singh,a taxi driver. There is already so much traffic. Because of potholes,you see cars trying to avoid some stretches. As a result there is even more chaos, says Shraddha Sheth,a service professional who uses the Jogeshwari flyover to commute from Lower Parel to Goregaon.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC),which maintains 14 flyovers and 37 railway over bridges,says repair work is under way. The road repair work across the city is being done and is a usual process, says A V Ralkar,Chief Engineer (Roads). Of the Rs 40 crore allocated for pothole repairs this year,Rs 17 crore has been used,he added. It is very difficult to repair potholes in the monsoon as all the patchwork comes out. We will have to wait for a dry spell of 4-5 days to repair all potholes. According to an official,pothole repair work is often done in a shoddy manner as contractors have to redo bad patches before the Ganesh festival.

Kiran Vaidya,who often uses the Kanjurmarg flyover,says The ride becomes more dangerous as most of the time there are no streetlights on the Kanjurmarg flyover and one also has to try to avoid the potholes.

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