Traffic cops write to BMC: Potholes on Western Express Highway cause snarls

Although commuters said that the traffic pile-ups have been due to the police nakabandi, traffic police blame the increasing number of potholes on the highway, and especially on the Dindoshi Flyover, for the problem. Traffic police officers said that on Monday, there were traffic snarls owing to potholes on the Dindoshi flyover.

“Due to the potholes on the Dindoshi flyover, the vehicles travelling at the speed of 60 km per hour had to travel at 20 km per hour, which created traffic jams on the stretch,” said Pratap Dighavkar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic). Dighavkar said that a traffic constable had been deployed at every police station to keep an update on the number of potholes on the stretch and give a daily report.

“We have on Monday written to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation about the potholes which have caused obstruction to the traffic flow.”

According to commuters who regularly use the Western Express Highway, they usually have to face traffic jams on the stretch only on weekdays, with the congestion on the highway usually easing up on the weekend. However, on Sunday, with Raksha Bandhan being celebrated, they had to spend over three hours just to get from Dahisar to Goregaon. The police had partially blocked a few lanes for nakabandi to catch chain-snatchers, which also led to pile-ups.

“On Monday we were expecting less traffic jams, but even today we had to spend hours on the highway which was frustrating,” said Aman Rathod, an MBBS doctor who stays at Borivali and runs a clinic at Goregaon east.

megha.sood@expressindia.com